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May/June 2005 • Issue 32

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$4.50 us/ $6.95 Canada

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Radical publisliers AK Press celebrate
their 15th anniversary this year.

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from your editors

Fuck tradition. It's the sort of thing that jails us and keeps us from moving forward — it ties
our hands with convention. It keeps women from earning what they deserve. It keeps people
of color shut out from resources they need to survive. Mainstream convention tells us that
we need to adhere to tradition to maintain our roots, but what traditions are we encouraged
to adhere toi* Traditions that keep certain people in power while others are left to fend for
themselvesJ* What about the traditions of resistance that encourage us to continue fighting
for a better world for all of us? Noam Chomsky once suggested that "intellectual tradition is
one of servility to power, and if I didn't betray it I'd be ashamed of myself." Being ashamed
of ourselves is not something we're good at, and neither are Clamor readers. So we're bring-
ing this issue to you to remind us all that we have a rich tradition (both ancient and newly
established) of resistance to injustice. We're building traditions from the fires of inspiration
we get from those who came before us on the ashes of outmoded mindsets that encourage us
to just "trust the experts and everything will be okay."

When we're looking for traditions, we needn't look any furthur than Oakland, where AK Press is
celebrating 15 years of anarchist publishing this year (p. 14). But if we did want to look fur-
ther, this year's gathering of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre (pp. 30 and 63) illustrates
how a relatively recent tradition can challenge the powers of the elitist World Economic Forum
and its counterparts. Keidra Chaney also talked with people from the U.S. and beyond to find
out how people are responding to the changes in their communities (p. 22). Ken Allen and
Don Mcintosh recently debated the past and future of organized labor in the U.S. in an effort
to find what has and hasn't worked for the working class in hopes of moving forward with a
better. Courtney Martin takes us on a brief survey of the history of Third Wave Feminism and
Rebecca Hyman examines the merit (or lack thereof) of the mainstreaming of queer culture in
America in the sex and gender section (p. 38) — both invaluable discussions to be having as
we look at where we've come from and where we're headed with regards to sex/gender politics
in the U.S. And in the culture section, Jason Powers invites us to look at permaculture as
one solution to environmental neglect — a positive, pro-active response to how we've been
negatively taught to interact with the earth.

We hope you enjoy the issue. These are our traditions and the future we build with them will
be ours.

Thanks for reading,

■e^oiy^M^

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Clamor s mission is to provide a media outlet that reflects the reality of alternative politics and culture in a format
that IS accessible to people from a variety of backgrounds. Clamor exists to fill the voids left by mainstream media
We recognize and celebrate the fact that each of us can and should participate in media, politics, and culture. We
publish writing and art that exemplify the value we place on autonomy, creativity, exploration, and cooperation.
Clamor is an advocate of progressive social change through active creation of political and cultural alternatives.

rP UPROAR

08 Where Clamor Readers Have Their Say

Number 32 i May/June 2005

CULTURE

10 The Problem is the Solution by Jason Powers

14 AK Press: A Tradition of Resistance by Katie Renz

1 7 The Familiarity Factor by Megha Bahree

1 9 Beyond the Monoculture by Shiipa Kamat

PFOPIF

22 Changing Communities. Changing Traditions edited by Keidra Chaney

26 Upholsterer for the People by Courtney Martin

27 Reflections on a Hippie Childhood by Rebecca Hartman

POLITICS

30 World Social Forum 2005 by Benjamin DangI

34 A New Tradition of Texas Populism by J. D. Pleucker

35 At the Edge of America by Dan Gordon

^FY Awn nFwnFD

38 Straightwashing by Rebecca Hyman

41 Born in Flames Conference by Abby Sewell

42 Basketball, Bitch, and Beyond:

Surveying the Third Wave Feminist Landscape by Courtney E. Martin
44 A Troubled Tradition by Caitiin Corrigan

MEDIA

48 You Can't Do That On Television! The Conspicuous

Absence of Abortion on TV by Rachel Fudge
52 Media and Tech Traditions: Old and New

by Mane Lamb and Catherine Komp
54 Where are all the Environmental Stories? by Brian C. Howard

ECONOMICS

58 Unite to Win! Debating Reorganizing Organized Labor

by Ken Allen and Don Mcintosh
83 WSF: Past, Present, and Future by Kent L. Laudt

MURMURS

67 What We're Talking About...

HERE

74 Ohio's Own BLUEPRINT by Blake Gillespie

Please address letters to letters@clamormagazine.org

or write us at PO Box 20128 Toledo, OH 43610

Letters may be edited for length.

Not all letters received will be printed.

We're Not All "Persians"

I received my first copy of Clamor from a friend him-
self closely associated with another well-respected
left publication who suggested that I read and per-
haps write for your magazine. So it was with great
surprise that I found the article "We are Persians" in
your magazine (Clamor 30; Jan/Feb 2005), and I am
writing to bring your attention to some of the deep
mistakes and problems with that article. In effect,
the ellaboration of Iranian identity by the writer of
that article is worthy of a neo-con publication and
not of a grassroots magazine aimed at a young al-
ternative readership.

To set a few points straight: there is a de-
bate amongst the Iranian community in the US as
far as the use of the term "Persian." As the writer
herself ellaborated, the term "Persian" has come
to represent the section of the Iranian community
that is associated with those who identify with the
deposed dictator of Iran, the Shah. Nothing can be
more surprising than to read about the Queen of a
dictatorship in such a sott (white washed?) light in
this magazine!

Furthermore, the term "Persian" is now being
used by many in the Iranian community who wish
to elevate themselves above the Muslim and Arab
communities in the US. Instead of questioning the
racist depiction of all people from the Middle East,
these Persian-minded Iranians, buy into the racism,
in effect, saying "We are Persians, so we are better
than those Arabs that you see on TV!"

There is yet a third, and most concrete reason
why the term "Persian" is an unacceptable term: not
all Iranians are Persians. Although the Persians are
politically and culturally the dominsat group in Iran,
the majority of Iranains actually come from vari-
ous minority communitites such as Turkish, Kurd.
Baluch. Gilak, Arab. etc. etc. Equating the term
'Persian' with all Iranians negates the presence of
these various ethnicities and falls into an internal
imperialism than many minorities in Iran are fight-
ing against.

I am not sure if the writer of that article is
aware of the various sides of this discussion. Never-
theless, for those of us who have struggled to devel-
op a progressive Iranian and Middle Eastern politics
in the US, I find it is important to bring the attention
of your magazine to these questions.

o Thanks,

•^ Kouross Esmaeli

c New York, New York

Where's the Love for Street Papers?

I'm writing in response to your latest issue, "Mak-
ing the Media that Matters." I enjoyed the issue
very much, especially "Down to the wire," by Gwen
Shaffer.

I was a little disappointed to see no mention of
the street newspaper movement in North America, or
throughout the world.

The street newspaper movement is a product
of growing homeless population throughout the
world, and in many communities newspapers have
become credible news sources, while ottering many
people experiencing homelessness a small economic
opportunity.

In places like Portland, Seattle, Boston, and
Washington D.C., just to name a few, papers are
tackling the issues of homelessness and poverty,
that unfortunately, is otten times lett out of many
liberal and conservative dialogues in a real and fo-
cused way.

Sincerely,
Israel Bayer
Forks, Washington

Open Letter to an Open Letter

Just a quick note to say that I agree with much of
what Peter Gelderloos says in his letter (Clamor
31; Mar/Apr 2005) in your current issue. Certainly
the bourgeois progressive media is uncomfortable
with the ULA's working-class in-your-face noise and
tactics; our strong embrace of contention and dis-
agreement and our lavish use of free speech. They
shouldn't be.

Regards,

Karl "King" Wenclas, Underground Literary Alliance

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The revolution won't be televised, but you can read

about It. Books for a better world, by Mike Palacek,
former federal prisoner, congressional candidate,
newspaper reporter. Please visit: iowapeace.com.

EMMA GOLDMAN REVISITED: The journal Social An-
archism (publishing since 1981) presents a special
supplement on Red Emma in its current issue. Also
articles on Anarchism and Human Nature (Tom
Martin, Lucy Parsons Park (Kathryn Rosenfeld), a
lost (1893) essay by Voltairine DeCleyre, reviews by
Richard Kostelanetz and Howard J. Ehrtich, poetry
and book reviews. $6. Social Anarchism, 2743 Mary-
land Ave., Balttmore, MD 21218

FIRE ON THE PRAIRIE: a monthly show featuring
interviews with progressive writers and thinkers,
brought to you by In These Times magazine. Listen
to archived shows online at wvm.wluw.org.

SUPPORT PROMETHEUS RADIO PROJECT: Pro-
metheus IS a microradio resource center offering
legal, technical, and organizational support for the
non-commercial community broadcasters. For more
information, visit www.prometheusradio.org.

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floats. ...you name it. We will gather in Toledo, Ohio
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where clamor readers have their say

this issue we asked: Tell US about the new traditions you've created for yourself and your friends.

Our family and friends do a secular "giving thanks*^ before every
meal. No god stuff, or airy-faerie NewAge(tm); we just hold hands
and go around the table saying what we're thankful for that day. Then
everyone ends with "Happy Dinner!'", and kisses the hands of the
folks next to them.

Great fun; freaks out the waitstatT, and makes fundics realize
they don't have the 'saying grace' market cornered.
-Bruce Bui I is, Los Angeles CA

I began to use the art of calligraphy and bring it to light in a new
way. I have combined my own poetry in many instances, and some
wisdom from the ages in others, and created a background of art, to
create a new mixed media form. My artwork is both universal and
personal at the same time. People really seem to relate to it. and hope-
fully this year I will have my own home web page.
-Irene Konig. Autin TX

After reading Naomi Klein's excellent book \o Logo (on sweat-
shop labor and the encroachment of advertisement on public space),
o 1 was both disgusted by the plight of textile workers worldwide and
r^ delermmed to do something about it. 1 knew, of course, that the ob\ i-
c ous answer was to completely abstain from buying clothing made in
^ unfair and exploitative conditions, but that didn't seem to be enough,
g A few years later, after taking a quilting class, I came up with the idea
^ of using old sweaters to make a huge, completely recycled quilt. As
% my quilt ncarcd completion, I happened upon an article in Milwaukee

Magazine about a local quilt artist, Terese Agnew. who had recently
completed a two-year quilt project called "Portrait of a Textile Work-
er." I had been one-upped... or rather, a fe\s inillion-upped.

I was completely blown away.

The quilt, reduced to a tiny fraction of its 9' x 9' size for the
photograph in the magazine, looked to be just that: a photograph. It
was only after reading the article and seeing the detail of the work
on the next page that I realized that .-Xgnew had created her portrait
of a Bangladeshi textile worker entirely out of clothing labels. The
Bangladeshi woman who labored over her sewing machine was com-
posed of the logos of thousands of companies that employed millions
of men. women and children just like her.

The political stateinent is like a slap in the face. The extreme
quality, subtlety, and mastery of the almost-photographic composi-
tion is perhaps even more awe-inspiring. But it was only after going
to see the work itself, in person, at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center for
the Arts in Brookticid, \\ I that the w ider significance (and optimism)
of the piece began to set in. I stood between a handful of people, our
faces one foot from the tens of thousands of labels (bearing both the
damning symbols of clothing companies and the telling care labels:
Made in China. Made in Korea, etc ). wc all mar\eled at the handi-
work and extreme dedication that was apparent in eserv stitch. But
the real point, I felt, the real message, was in the medium itself: the
quilt.

Ms. Agnew has made several other art quilts that are as labori-
ously crafted and as politically charged as this one. But "Portrait"

hits home because its medium directly ad-
dresses, and then openly defies, the objects
of its message: sweatshops and the clothing
companies that utilize them. Quilting has not
traditionally been regarded as revolutionary,
but "Portrait" leaves no option but to see the
activity in that light. Quilting runs contrar>'
to the very existence of the sweatshops and
their exploitative labor practices in so many
ways that it makes the political and social
message of "Portraif almost overwhelming.
First, quilts are traditionally made of
recycled materials (as is "Portrait," with its
perhaps 50,000 donated clothing labels).
They therefore reject the throw-it-out-
when-the- season-is-over mentality that all
of theses companies depend upon for their
very existence. Quilts are inherently time
consuming (Agnew's is the product of two
years of labor), thereby doing battle with the
impatience and immediate gratification that
clothing companies and consumer culture
in general thrive upon. Quilts also foster
community and friendship- as in the age-
old quilting bee- and therefore they combat
the notion of materia! goods being produced
by anonymous workers thousands of miles
away from consumers. Agnew's quilt was
completed- with time quickly running out-
by several members of various quilting com-
munities in Milwaukee. Quilts embrace tra-
dition and innovation simultaneouslv. which

is the mark of true quality and all good and
lasting art- as opposed to the sweatshops that
chum out practically disposable new fash-
ions. They are unique where the factories
spit out mass-produced clones of T-shirts
and logo-infested jackets. Finally, quilts
exhalt in exactly the kind of do-it-yourself
ethic that puts ordinary people back in touch
with the material culture from which they
have been estranged and alienated, exactly
the kind of pride and sense of accomplish-
ment that self-reliance fosters, and exactly
the independent attitude that could grind
the wheels of the garment industry to a halt,
were it to spread.

Agnew's quilt is not just a labor of love,
not just a masterful political statement. It is
a declaration of war, and, with hope, a har-
binger of change.
-Shannon Diigan Iverson. Milwaukee WI

1 work with a loose-knit organization of
experimental poets called P.\CE. We gave
guerilla readings in Philadelphia's shopping
districts on Christmas Eve morning. Along
with CAConrad, Linh Dinh, and Mytili Ja-
gannathan, we each recited our work while
handing out holiday cards & anti-war poems
outside the Gallery, Liberty Place & Rit-
tenhouse Square. The holiday PACE action
was designed to urge shoppers to take the
Iraq war discussion home to their Christmas

dinner tables. The Najaf occupation doesn,t
take a holiday, & there, s no Christmas va-
cation for Americans serving in Mosul. We
need to keep those suffering overseas in our
thoughts.

PACE (Italian for peace) is planning
further poetry actions in the coming year
to take our work & our message beyond the
libraries, galleries & bookstores. The Christ-
mas Eve street readings launched our Poems
to Philadelphia Project for 2005.
-Frank Sherlock, Philadelphia PA

next issue:

For the "Crime" issue, tell
us about something illegal
that you've done and did or
didn't get away with.

Send your UPROAR stories (250 words or
less) to uproar@clamormagazine.org by
May 15, 2005

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the Problem

is thcCoiution

Culduodng fleuj Troclitions Through Permoculture

word Jason Powers

photOi uuui leiy l Kootenay Permaculture Institute

The sad reality is that we are in
clanger of perishing from our own
stupidity and lack of personal re-
sponsibility to life. If we become
extinct because of factors beyond
our control, then we can at least
die with pride in ourselves, but to
create a mess in which we perish
by our own inaction makes non-
sense of our claims of conscious-
ness and morality

Bill Mollison.

co-founder of permaculture

Irresponsible traditions of waste, conquest, and over-consumption
have dominated much of human history, leading to the collapse of
many past societies. History has shown us that a civilization that un-
dermines its land and resource base through wasteful and exploitative
habits eventually will collapse. Today, the destruction hinges upon our
wasteful and exploitative economy, based on perpetual growth, and the
fossil fuel-dependent industrial agriculture that strips our soils and poi-
sons our waters. Agribusiness corporations are consolidating owner-
ship of the world's seed stock, while the genetically altered organisms
they produce silently embed themselves into the wild gene pool, with
yet unknown consequences for global food security and biodiversity.
Oil and natural gas production, the cheap energy that our agriculture,
industry, and transportation systems depend on, has most likely peaked
and begun to regress. Extinction of species is drastically increasing due
to pollution, ecological devastation, and weather change. Extinction
of cultures due to conquest- euphemistically termed, "developmenf
- and resource extraction is likewise increasing.

o
o

In may ways shielded from the effects of the global economy by
our relative wealth, most in the "developed" world live unaware of the
effects of our lifestyle, not knowing or caring where our food, water,
energy, and consumer products come from, nor what is done to bring
us these things. Even as we imagine progress and technological salva-
tion, our systems and the culture they've created perpetuate denial.

Clearly, whether we choose to change or not, we will have to
eventually. It's just a matter of when we're able to leave denial be-
hind and look honestly at how we live. From this we will hopefully
(re)develop skills and traditions that teach us to value and care for
what sustains us: the land, our communities, and our relationships.

Pcrmaculture arose from the realization that prevailing agricul-
tural systems were fundamentally unsustainable and creating world-
wide catastrophe. Based on observations of the sustainable systems of
nature, as well as many of the traditions of indigenous cultures, pcr-
maculture was developed and applied in the 1970s by Australians Bill
Mollison, a forestry worker and scientist, and David Holmgren, then
a 20-year-old student. As initially conceived, "Pcrmaculture is the
conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive eco-
systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural
ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people
providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-mate-
rial needs in a sustainable way, "- according to Mollison 's Designers '
Manual, the "bible" of pcrmaculture.

Originally an attempt to return to systems of small-scale inten-
sive gardens, pcrmaculture now incorporates numerous techniques for
ecologically sustainable living: grey water, recycling, solar energy,
rainwater catchment, natural building, and local food networks. "You
could say it's a rational man's approach to not shitting in his bed... a
framework that never ceases to move, but that will accept information
from anywhere," explained co-founder Mollison in an interview with
In Context. Coined in 1976 as a conjunction of "permanent agricul-
ture," the word pcrmaculture has evolved to signify a "permanent cul-
ture," one that has since spread into a de-centralized global movement,

adapted and implemented by peoples in nearly every ecosystem, and
socioeconomic level, by rural and urban, rich and poor.

Toby Hemenway, a pcrmaculture teacher, designer and author of
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture likens pcrma-
culture to "A toolbox that helps organize [techniques] and helps you
decide when to use them." Aiding this are four simple ethical tenets:
caring for the earth, caring for people, limiting growth and consump-
tion, and sharing surplus (goods, energy, time, etc.). Design principles
derived from these tenets incorporate no-till and perennial gardening,
use of natural patterns, energy efficiency, and intelligent use of space
and resources. As in nature, stability is created through diversity and
the relationships between the elements in the system. "The philosophy
behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, na-
ture; of protracted and thoughtful observ ation rather than protracted
and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions,
rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems
to demonstrate their own evolutions," Mollison writes. Practitioners
try to integrate the different elements into harmonious relationships
where cooperation and mutual support are encouraged, multiple func-
tions arc filled by one element, and multiple elements fill one function.
This is seen in the "guild." a permaculture-specific technique which
uses vertical space to stack and layer mutually beneficial plants.

To be sustainable, a system must create as much or more energy
than it consumes, so closing energy and resource loops becomes very
important. Problems are reframed as solutions and waste is redirected
as inputs for other processes. "I have become increasingly aware of
how the outputy waste of my activities can be reused as inputs useful in
other activities," admits Leopoldo Rodriguez, an economics professor
at Portland State University with three years of permaculture experi-
ence. "I think a lot more about the placement of different elements in
the process of putting a garden together, planting a tree in the yard or
building a chicken coop." Beyond understanding one's own systemic
impact, pennaculture bolsters people's self-sufficiency. "Grow food or
learn how to forage wild food yourself. The empowerment of this one

o
o

act will have a great effect on you," says courthouse clerk
Carla Bankston, an eight-year permaculture devotee.

In addition to this focus on sustainability and DIY
practicality, successful application of permaculture de-
pends on continuous feedback, adjustment and involve-
ment with the design. "'One key aspect is to reassess at
every step and make sure that you're still in line with what
your original goals were," Hemenway says. "You stay with
the project for long after it's up and running because it's
always going to change. It creates a long term relationship
which will in the long run wind up being cheaper" He con-
trasts that with how things are typically done. "Our culture
does a cost benefit analysis where we say 'Okay, this is the
cheapest way to do it so let's do it like that.' It makes it
very difficult to [do] anything resembling what sustainable
cultures do."

Always site and system specific, permaculture is in-
credibly versatile. Its principles are broad enough to be
applied to various systems — economics, home build-
ing, human relationships, and food distribution systems.
Mayans in Guatemala, post-Soviet Cubans, and villagers
in rural Zimbabwe have all successfully bolstered their
communities' food security by ceasing to use expensive
chemical-based processes. Instead they combine produc-
tion-intensive and energy-saving permaculture techniques
like mulching, composting and water harvesting with
their traditional farming methods, concentrating once
again on subsistence rather than producing commodities
for export. City Repair in Portland. Oregon, applies it to
urban planning with community-guided creation of pub-
lic spaces and the integration of natural building into the
cityscape. The Permaculture Credit Union in New Mexico in-
vests in their community rather than destructive companies, offering
loan discounts for fuel-efficient automobiles and second mortgages
for energy efficient upgrades on houses. "I've seen businesses and
organizations where people have applied permaculture principles
that have helped them get a lot more functional," says Hemenway,
"It works with so-called invisible structures as well as with visible
things like landscapes or buildings."

"[Permaculture] involves rediscovering a lot of things we have
lost," Linda Hendrickson, a Portland weaver and recent permaculturist.
says. While it is true the philosophy challenges many of our modem
habits, it is by no means anachronistic. "You look at the inputs and the
outputs and embedded energy," explains Hemenway. "What did it take
to build that solar panel? Is there more energy being consumed in the
creation of it than you're going to get back from its use? I don't rule out
any technology simply because its technology, but we look at it as how
much really does it cost to be using this, and who gets hurt by it." Rather
than reject modem know-how, permaculture examines both negative and
positive impact, a more conscientious approach than our current mass
delusion of "progress" as endless and thoughtless expansion.

This broad integration of technique and application, as well as
the inclusion of ethics in design originally captivated Hemenway.
While leaving his job at a biotech company, he stumbled across Bill
Mollison's Designers" Manual at the public library. "I leafed through
the pages and said, 'This is it. This is everything I've ever wanted to
do. This is ecology and appropriate technology and design and gar-
dening. It puts it all together.""

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the many facets of permaculture
design at first. Karen Tilou, who applies permaculture techniques to
the orchard she manages, explains, "There's so much you can do, so
people end up feeling like 'Wow, I'm not doing anything if I'm not
doing all of it.'" To avoid this, "Find what aspect of permaculture "s
ethics and principles you can apply to what you really love. It doesn't
have to be about gardens or solar energy."

Websites:

A Beginner's Guide: www.gburnett.unisonplus.net/Perma
ATTRA- National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service:

attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/perma.html
David Holmgren's website: www.holmgren.com.au
Toby Hemenway's website: www.patternliteracy.com
Portland Permaculture Guild: www.pdxpermaculture.org
Permaculture Credit Union: www.pcuonline.org
City Repair: www.cityrepair.org
Kootenay Permaculture Institute: www3.telus.net/permaculture/

Permaculture Books:

Permaculture: A Designers' Manual by Bill Mollison

Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison.

Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren.

Gala's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway.

Urban Permaculture by David Watkins

Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield

Magazines:

Permaculture Activist: permacultureactivist.net
Permaculture Magazine: www.permaculture.co.uk

Related Books:

The Final Empire: The Collapse of Civilization and the Seed of the Future by
Wm.H.Kotke. Available online at: vwvw.rainbowbody.net/Finalempire
The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka.

Ultimately, permaculture is responsible to earth and home, wher-
ever that may be. Joseph & Jacqueline Freeman, who live and garden
on a ten-acre farm advise, "Start paying attention to the small things,
like where your water comes from and where it goes. Keep your sep-
tic outflow non-toxic by using low-impact detergent when you wash
clothes. Be aware of packaging when you make purchases. Develop
relationships with elders and others of like mind so you can keep add-
ing to your knowledge. Build community in whatever ways you can."
Though nice to have the space rural areas offer, permaculture is espe-
cially important in urban areas. "The cities and suburbia are theplaces
where the resources are being consumed,"" Hemenway observes. "It's
where everybody lives in this country. If those places can't change
then we're not going to get there."

By no means the solution, permaculture offers a valuable ap-
proach to restructuring our lives and counters the deleterious habits of
our society by simultaneously looking forward to new technology and
backward to older agricultural traditions and indigenous wisdom. In
contrast to our current pathologies of short-term profit, waste, perpetu-
al growth, oversimplification and reductionism, permaculture teaches
us to slow down, observe, evaluate our actions and consumption pat-
terns, to value the land, the local and relationships, 'ir

Jason Powers lives in Portland, Oregon, Cascadia.

l-he 7l-h annual
Hllied Media CDnFerencB

June 17-19, ZDD5

Bowling Green, DH

Online registration available now at:
www.alliedmedlaconference.com

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The AK Press collective (missing Craig OHara) amongst ttie mountains of Dones

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words Katie Renz
pnoios Josh Warren-White

The fact that 2005 marks the 15"' anniversary of AK Press is really
not that unique.

"Anarchists have always written, proselytized, printed, and pub-
lished," said Ramsey Kanaan. founding member of the collectively
run, worker-owned, bi-continental publisher and distributor of radical
media.

Kanaan isn't exaggerating. AK Press's decade-and-a-half springs from well-trod and pas-
sionate origins of do-it-yourself (DIY) publishing, something he regards as emergent of "the
twin driving forces of anarchism" — working class struggle and self-organi/ation. Such liter-
ary lineage has roots in the F-rcnch Revolution of 1 848, durwig which Pierre-.loseph Proudhon.
whose writings form a basis for anarchist doctrine, edited four radical newspapers, all subse-
quently destroyed by government censorship. Later in the 19"' century. Peter Kropotkin. an-
other anarchist heavyweight, founded a magazine called FrccJom. along vv ith Freedom Press.
w hich continues to chum out radical works todav. In the L'luted Stales in the earlv 20" centurv.
Emma (ioldman started Stoilwr Enrilv. .Alexander Herkman had The Blast Immigrant anar-
chist communities, trade unions, and writerly revolutionaries, in America and abroad, made
pamphlets detailing manifestos and political v isions a common currency.

"It's kinda funnv when \ou look into anarchist historv. " says Charles Weigl. an AK Press
member. "It seems like everv other historical figure vou read about was a printer or publisher,
or put out a newspaper, or was smuggling pamphlets into pre-revolutionarv Russia."

AK Press, as a modem counterpart, is nothing new. Thankfully, they don't have to co-
\crtlv scatter their 2.60fl-plus books, magazines and zines. pamphlets, videos and DNDs. and

audio recordings. But AK's fundamental goal — "getting as much
anarchist and radical literature as possible out there into the world"
— is part historical, part simple necessity.

"Persuasion and "leading' by example is really all we've got,"
Weigl stated. "We don't have the goal of seizing State power and
imposing our views on the backward masses.

"We tend to see our main job as providing practical and intel-
lectual tools to help people organize. Books aren't the only means of
doing that, but they're an important part."

AK's more direct beginnings grew from another fruitful union,
the coupling of anarchism and punk rock. At age 13. Kanaan was
selling punk zines out of a plastic bag, already doing his DIY distro
thing.

He remembered: "In 1981, I was peddling my wares at a big
squat gig in London, where all the legends were playing — Crass,
Conflict, Poison Girls. I was doing my thing with the plastic bag. I
noticed a bunch of older dudes — in hindsight, 1 suspect considerably
younger than I am now! — with beards and long hair sitting behind a
table selling radical literature."

These hairy fablers worked at a radical bookstore in London
called Housmans, a place that was also into publishing and distribu-
tion. Kanaan's plastic bag of zines was soon replaced by a table blan-
keted by political literature. His early publishing endeavors found
fertile ground and mentored guidance at Housmans.

Kanaan founded AK Press in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1 990, and
established a "sister" collective in Oakland, California four years later.
Today, what Weigl describes as "a motley collection of very different
people," consists of nine members in the United States (eight in Oak-
land, one in West Virginia) and two in Edinburgh.

According to Kanaan, AK's mission as a propaganda-pusher
hasn't been diluted over time. "The founding philosophy of AK
remains, absolutely, first and foremost, a political project," he said.
"[Publishing] just seemed the best way to direct our energies."

But their longevity isn't just about politics. As with any business
in a capitalist system, AK is dependent on turning a profit. If they
want to continue publishing media essentially centered on undermin-
ing an economic system wholly obsessed with screwing folks over to
make a buck, they somehow have to participate (money-generation)
without total acquiescence (exploitation).

Weigl has struggled with this reality. "It's a weird contradiction."
And one he recently came to terms with after studying Berkman's The
Blast, which AK is getting ready to publish as a book format in fac-
simile reprint, where every page of the paper is shown exactly how it
was originally published.

Weigl commented, "One thing that jumped out at me was the
fact that they had advertisements. I don't know why it was surprising.
Why shouldn't anarchists have had the same economic pressures a
hundred years ago?"

Having to operate with one foot grudgingly stuck in the system
while stretching to hand out tools to educate and inspire the overthrow
of that system is nothing new in anarchist circles. As Weigl put it, "We
always have to make difficult choices under far-from-perfect condi-
tions in a society organized around principles we despise."

ZNel's Michael Albert pointed out the too-often fatal difficulty
of ideal-based endeavors succumbing to economic strangleholds. Re-
flecting upon AK's anniversary, he said. "Providing truthful, insight-
fiil, visionary content in multiple media forms is a difficult task even
with ample assets; it is nigh on Herculean without them. AK Press
deserves a great round of applause as they embark on more years to
come."

Albert is right. Fifteen years is a long time to run any business,
much less one embracing anarchist principles. Collectives and orga-
nization sans hierarchy are great concepts, yet can be hard to main-
tain, considering the majority of modem institutions typically only
provide counter models. But both Weigl and Kanaan are quick to

1873-1893: Ezra Heywood publishes the newspaper The
Word, first distributed from Princeton, New
Jersey and later Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Heywood serves several prison sentences
for the periodical's advocacy of radical
individualism, free love, and labor reform.

1883-1907: Moses Harmon edits the radically sex-positive
paper Lucifer, the Lightbearer, first issued out
of Valley Falls, then Topeka, Kansas, and finally
from Chicago, Illinois. He serves several prison
sentences because the magazine contains
"anatomically correct language."

1884-1889: Albert Parsons edits The Alarm in Chicago.
The journal is quickly suppressed after the
Haymarket bombings because it "advocates
terronsm."
1886: Kerr Publishing Co. begins in Chicago and is the
longest running anarchist/socialist publisher.

1895-1897: Firebrand, an influential anarchist/communist
paper published in Portland, Oregon, is
suppressed for "obscenity."

1906-1917: In New York, Emma Goldman and Alexander
Berkman edit Mother Earth, which is banned
from the mail under The Espionage Act (1917)
because the government finds it "treasonable."

1916-1917: In San Francisco, California, Alexander Berkman
edits The Blast, a militant anarchist paper that is
anti-war and pro-labor.

1922-1971: Osvaldo Maraviglia and Max Sartin edit
L'Adunata del Refrattari, a fiercely anti-
organizational Italian paper, in New York City.

1942-1951 : The magazine Retort; an anarchist quarterly of
social philosophy and the art circulates
1969: Left Bank Books, an independently owned

bookstore, opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
1970: Black Rose Books, a non-profit book publishing

project, begins in Montreal.
1979: The Kate Sharpley Library is founded in South
London; is reorganized in 1991, with an office in
Berkeley, California today.
1990: Ramsey Kanaan starts AK Press in Scotland;
four years later an office opens in Oakland,
California.
1997: Black Flag Books begins publishing anarchist
materials in Berkeley, California.

above. AK Press collective member Darcie Debolt stocking
inventory in AK's Oakland warehouse.

point out that AK's tenure is hardly exclusive.
London's Freedom Press, Kropotkin's project
from 1886, is the world's oldest anarchist
publishing house. America's longest-running
anti-authoritarian newspaper. Fifth Estate, is
celebrating its own anniversary — the big 4-
0 — this year. Left Bank Books in Seattle
has passed the 30-year mark; Wooden Shoe
in Philadelphia and San Francisco's Bound
Together both opened their doors in 1 976.

Although they are certainly not alone,
when held in contrast to the 1.200 Borders

chains worldwide and the nearly S6 billion in
2004 sales of Barnes and Nobles, AK clearly
has the odds stacked against it. And in a book
market seemingly devoted to churning out
books that celebrate the next big trend in diet-
ing, AK's contribution to the literary realm is
a strikingly rare thing.

Author Howard Zinn, who has four spo-
ken word CDs published by the collective
and several books available, said he is "huge-
ly impressed" by their survival. "I admire its
boldness, its independence, its willingness to

,9
w

AK Press collective member and founder Ramsey Kanaan amidst the stacks

"The founding philosophy of AK remains,

absolutely, first and foremost a political

project. [Publishing] just seemed the best

way to direct our energies."

take on projects that mainstream publishers
wouldn't touch."

Perhaps Zinn's sentiment is best demon-
strated by this past February's media frenzy
over Ward Churchill's essay on 9/11, which
AK published as the introductor>' essay to
his book. On the Justice of Roosting Chick-
ens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S.
Imperial Arrogance and Criminality: Ward,
the (now former) Chair of the Ethnic Studies
Department at the University of Colorado, es-
sentially argued that in order to pre\ ent future
terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, Americans have
to resist complacency and instead are respon-
sible to pressure their government to comply
with the rule of the law. His comparison of
the World Trade Center's efficient "techni-
cians" with Adolf Eichmann. Hitler's chief
of operations in the deportation of three mil-
lion Jews to extermination camps, however,
instigated distortions by the right-w ing press,
a subsequent media brouhaha, and death
threats.

AK Press's Josh Warren-White called
this a perfect example of the collective's prin-
cipled reluctance to shirk from debate and
controversy. "No other publisher we know of
would have touched the piece with a ten foot
pole." he said.

And it appears the printed page will
remain a space for AK-supported radical
scrawlings for a while to come. According
to Weigl, the organization has never been
healthier.

Kanaan pondered the past 15 years: "I
guess to have existed as a viable anarchist
organization for this long is pretty cool," he
said, humbly, though quickly and emphati-
cally added, "There's a lot more to be done!"
Think about it. Along with the basic chal-
lenge of distributing ever more propaganda is
an even greater constant ambition, lest it be
buried amidst the boxes of books or smoth-
ered within long-winded doctrines. "Social
revolution would be pretty nice, too," Kanaan
says. "Here's to the next 1 5, and a revolution
or two." "ir

Katie Renz is a voluntarily displaced anar-
chist nature chick, who currently resides near
Golden Gale Park and rides her hike every
morning to her internship at Mother Jones
magazine.

DON'T
FORGET

to take your

clamor subscription

with you when you move' Email us at

subs@clamormagazine.org

or call at 419.255.3020

with your new address

The Familiarity Factor

A new study suggests personality

is more important than cultural

background in sustaining lasting

partnerships. So why is intercultural

marriage in the US so rare?

word Megha Bahree
illustration Tom Pokinko

For most of the six years that Josephine Chan and Lucky Sandhu
dated. Lucky let his parents do the traditional thing and look for a
suitable bride for him in India. "Everyone knew that we were dating,"
recalled Josephine, 29, who moved from Hong Kong to California 16
years ago. "But they just ignored the subject and went with the tradi-
tion. I knew that every time he would go home to visit his parents,
there was a chance that he could come back with a ring." Yet she put
up with it. "I lost touch with my parents in India when I left home
to do my undergrad at Berkeley," said Lucky, a Sikh originally from
Chandigarh in north India. "I thought that if 1 married out of my cul-
ture, it would be yet another thing that I would take away from them.
That sort of prevented me from protesting."

Dealing with family expectations is just one of many issues that
people in inter-cultural relationships have to endure. Then there are
the whole range of other potentially explosive issues to consider: un-
examined prejudices, which cultural and religious traditions to con-
tinue, and which to put on hold — a consideration that becomes all the
more immediate where children are concerned.

In a recent study, psychologist Eva C. Klohnen, Ph.D., and gradu-
ate student Shanhong Luo, M.A., of the University of Iowa, stated that
people tend to marry those who are similar in attitudes, religion, and
values. However, they also found, it is similarity in personality that ap-
pears to be more important in sustaining a happy partnership. The re-
searchers looked at mating based on similar or opposite characteristics

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among 291 newlyweds who had participated in the Iowa Marital As-
sessment Project. The newlyweds had been married less than a year
at the time the study began and had dated each other for an average of
three-and-a-half years. The couples were assessed on a broad range of
personality characteristics, attitudes and relationship quality indica-
tors. "People may be attracted to those who have similar attitudes,
values, and beliefs and even marry them — at least in part — on the
basis of this similarity," the report said. "However, once people are
in a committed relationship, it is primarily personality similarity that
influences marital happiness."

Though intercultural marriages have increased steadily in the US
since the 196()s, recent census polls suggest that most Americans are
far more likely to end up with someone of the same cultural back-
ground. By 1992, the last year for which this information is avail-
able, 2.2% percent of marriages in the US were inter-racial, a tiny per-
centage for a country as culturally diverse as the U.S. This leaves the
question, are relationships between people of a single culture innately
stronger or easier to maintain? Or do people in cross-cultural relation-
ships have a richer experience because they have had the opportunity
to examine one's accepted cultural traditions and rotes and re-examine
them in terms of what they find truly important?

Take the case of Arun Sama, an Indian Hindu, and his wife Heidi,
a Caucasian American. This summer will be their tenth wedding an-
niversary. Their success, however, has not exactly been easy. Arun's
parents live in New Delhi and through the years he has mentioned to
Heidi his desire to live closer to his parents, to look after them in their
old age. They have decided to settle mid-way in Singapore and are
moving next spring. "On paper I liked the idea of living abroad but
I'm established in my career and I have my friends and family here,"
she said. Heidi is a freelance writer and specializes in travel. Slightly
nervous about the move, she said they have a three-year agreement
after which they will re-evaluate their decision. The couple has also
found inventive ways of compromising. For instance, their children
have Indian first names, Kavi and Tejas, and have Heidi's grandfa-
thers" middle names. Miles and Irwin. Religion hasn't been a major
issue for this couple. "We discussed it and since Arun is closer to his
religion than I am to mine, Christianity, we agreed the kids would
be raised Hindu. I'd like my kids to learn about faith. It's not overly
important to me whether they learn about faith through the Hindu
story or the Christian one. I could accept Arun taking the lead in the
children's religious upbringing because my feeling is that Hinduism is
a very personal faith, it doesn't involve grand rituals and rites, thus it
was easier to accept."

While the Samas have found a bridge across their religions, Man-
uela Badawy, 31, and her fiance, Anthony Brown, are still debating
it. Badawy, half-Colombian and half-Egyptian, was raised a Muslim.
Brown, 32, calls himself a "typical waspy Canadian." In fact, the two
had their first date three years ago during Ramadan one November
evening at 4.37, the time to break the fast. Badawy no longer fasts
(for health reasons she said). She defines herself as a liberal and rather
Westernized Muslim who is not veiled and drinks wine. Yet she wants
her future children to learn the Koran, and about the history of all reli-
gions in general. Brown doesn't feel the same way. He's more hesitant
about the role of religion in raising their children. "She prays more
often than I do," he said. "It's something 1 would join in a perfunctory
way and I'm happy to hold her hand while she prays."

For the moment he is content to explore her cultures. "I've grown
to love Latin culture and appreciate her Egyptian side as well. I had
stereotypical views of both parts of the world because of lack of ex-
posure. Now I love traveling lo Latin America and ha\e reaii a lot of
literature, because of her, about Egypt, the Mushm faith and Moham-
mad — stuff that I would never have done on my own."

feel that sharing a culture, ethnicity or religion makes coexistence
easier. Gabriel prefers not to date any one other than black Haitian
women. "I was 2 1 when 1 had my first girlfriend and she was white,"
she recalled. "One day we were walking down the street and these
boys were coming towards us playing with a basketball. As they
got near us the ball slipped out of their hands and hit my girlfriend
and she was really shaken up. Later she told me that her immediate
thought had been "these niggers', and that was too weird for me. Ev-
eryone has their prejudices and that's fine, but I didn't want to have
to deal with them." It was also fairiy normal, she said, that whenever
they were out at a restaurant the waiters would usually hand over
the check to her girlfriend "because they automatically assumed that
since she was the white person, she was more affluent and had a
more advantageous background."

After that Gabriel, 33, tried dating other women from the Carib-
bean, but each time she had to deal with the stigma attached to her
native country. "Haiti has a bad rep. When you say "Haiti", people im-
mediately get certain images in their mind because of how the media
has portrayed it. I always have to hear some comments. I now prefer
to date Haitian women because to me it's important to be accepted on
many levels in a relationship. Someone can't really exclude you if you
share the same ethnicity.""

There may be something innately more comfortable about sharing
a similar set of culturally-defined beliefs with your partner. A common
background has helped cement Cindy Manalo"s relationship with her
fiance Andrew Lee. Manalo. a Filipino bom and raised in New York.
never felt the need to date anyone from her ethnic background. Her
last serious relationship, which was with a German man, convinced
her otherwise. There were awkward differences that were as \ague as
American vs. European and as basic as the fact that no one in his na-
tive village, including his parents, spoke English. Three months after
they broke up. Manalo. 33. met Lee. a 29-year old attorney who is
half-Chinese and half-white. ""I surprised myself that 1 ended up with
an Asian."" she said. "'But it"s good. Andrew grew up in Hawaii and
his roots are very Asian. He"s surrounded by Asian ethnicity, there"s
a familiarity and it was easier integrating into my family. I don't have
to explain things at family functions and the foods are not that strange
to him."" In fact there is huge variety of foods that Lee loves, includ-
ing bagaong (ground up anchovies), adobo (lot of vinegar style cook-
ing), panseit (Filipino \ersion of Lo Mein). .^nd as w ith food, a shared
cultural perspective, he believes, has made the relationship easier to
maintain. '"I've dated both white and black women."" he says, "and
they are very limited in what they eat. and not as accepting of things
that don"t make sense to them.""

Getting back to Josephine and Lucky Sandhu. the reason they fell in
love, they say. is o\er the qualities that thc\ admired in the other. .And
though differences continue to pop up, thc> think that they ha\e found
the perfect partner. "Not all inter-racial relationships are going to work
because of two main reasons — the husband and the wife." Lucky
said. .'Ml other things — parents, relatives, cultural ditTerences — are
not that powerful. We can't make everyone happ\. But as long as the
main characters in a story can stand on their own feet, and the\ both
are on the same page, it'll work out." "^

Megha is a Journalist based in New York. Her passion is lo write about
the immigrant experience. She can be contacted at:
meglui((i bahree. com

* It's because of the obvious differences in the way traditK>n shapes
3 one's perspective that there are people, like Michaelle Gabriel, who

BEYOND THE MONOCULTURE

Second Generation Hindu-Americans Examine Their Heritage in the U.S.

by ShJIpa Kamat

Like many Hindus in Amer-
ica, I wonder what exactly I
can tell people who ask me about
my religion. While mainstream
America abounds with lunchbox-
es brightly painted with pictures
of Vishnu and words like karma
find their way into everyday use,
most Americans seem to know
little if anything about Hinduism.
If there is anything about Hindus
in the media, it is usually about
the hyper-conservative upsurge in
India and their supporters abroad.
Most of the Hindus 1 know are
progressive and easy-going, but
their voices are rarely or never
heard. Like myself, most of them
find themselves floundering when
they attempt to discuss Hinduism
in America because so much of
what they say is misunderstood by
people who are accustomed to the
worldview and assumptions bom
of a monotheistic culture.

Since there are no set rules in Hinduism,
the flexible, pluralistic nature of Hindu tradition
lends itself to a broad spectrum of interpreta-
tion, encouraging adaptation and personal re-
flection. As "Ananta," a first generation Hindu
American notes, "You can say there are a lot of
gods and goddesses, unlike in Christianity and
Islam. And nobody says that he's the best god
and others are not, because they're all equally
important." This lack of hierarchy is present
not only among deities, but among everyone
and everything, since the divine pervades all.
And though hierarchies have shaped the prac-
tices of many Hindu communities, the fact that
people can find god in an ant, or place stones
in the road on altars to worship demonstrates
the respect among Hindus for everything as in-
nately divine.

Despite the amalgamous nature of our
religion, however, Hindus in America are
prone to emphasize its similarities with Chris-
tianity. Many Hindus stress that the gods and
goddesses embody different aspects of one
divine source, in an effort to clump monistic
and polytheistic elements into the dominant
monotheistic model. "Rohan," a first-genera-
tion Hindu, told me, "religious people here
have their own gods in their houses, and they
take really seriously how to worship them, but
when they talk to [non-Hindu] Americans, I
think they'll simplify it" so that it fits within
the monotheistic worldview. In truth, Hindus
can be monotheistic, polytheistic, monistic,
or atheistic.

above: the author (far right) and her family .

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o
rvj

The recent "fundamentalist" wave of
Hindus in India, which parallels the Christian
Coalition in the U.S. in many uays, further
skews Westerners' understanding of Hindu-
ism. "Geeta," a second generation Hindu-
American attending Stanford, decried this seg-
ment of Hindus for their 'propaganda saying
that Hindus are too passive, that believing in
nonviolence and that all paths lead to the same
truth have made us weak, that we should rise
up and fight because other religions have been
oppressing us. That kind of propaganda is re-
ally annoying, total and complete self-victim-
ization, and leads to nothing useful."

All the Hindus 1 spoke to agree that Hin-
duism is primarily picked up through osmo-
sis— experienced rather than taught. As Geeta
stated, "My mom and dad said, 'Nobody ever
taught us rituals and prayers or what you do
when you go to a temple'. There, rituals are
absorbed; here they are learned." Many sec-
ond generation youth, like myself, feel an
intrinsic connection to our spirituality. The
delicate connections that are fostered when
someone grows up with exposure to a plural-
istic worldview are the most difficult aspect
of Hinduism for me to discuss. The subtleties
that arise from a lifelong exposure to centu-
ries of wisdom are not something that can
be learned in a textbook or understood after
studying abroad in India for a semester.

Rituals, rather than intellectual belief sys-
tems, fonn the core of many Hindus" spiritual-
ity. "We all revolved around our own rituals at
home [in India]," Ananta comments. However,
removed from a society where Hinduism per-
vades everyday life, second-generation Hindu-
Americans are more likely to take an intel-
lectual approach toward their religion. "One
thing I like about Hinduism," Geeta remarked,
"is that rituals are considered an equally valid
way of knowing oneself as intellectual under-
standing. I think that people who are brought
up here are more likely to shun ritual and my-
thology and question the underlying beliefs...
Those who do consider themselves Hindu of
[my] generation are often more likely to intel-
lectualize Hinduism rather than embracing the
rituals." This intellectualization can come at
a cost, however, since the act of performing a
ritual, such as a puja or chanting a mantra, can
hold power in the experiential rather than cere-
bral understanding.

At the saiTie time, blindly performing
rituals can lead to a stifling, rather than lib-
erating, experience. Raised in a village in
India, "Rohan" has always spumed traditions
that seemed pointless or orthodox rather than
heartfelt. I'nmcshed in a tight-knit religious
community, however, made it hard to simply
not partake. "In the apartments [in India],
everybody's watching everybody all the time.
F-vcrybody knows what's going on" and will
gossip about anyone who deviates from the
iionTi. But. he says. "here, there's no pressure

because there are not as many [Hindus]. Peo-
ple do whatever they like. In India, you have
to shower in the morning and do the puja in
the morning. Here, you can take a shower at
six in the evening an do a puja at seven."

When people are not forced to "do too
much ritual, then maybe the real sentiments
come in," "Rohan" suggests. As Geeta re-
marked, "The only thing forcing you to be
religious is your own head here, and over the
years, you begin to reject all the extraneous
things you never really believed." While
Hindus in India may partake in rituals mere-
ly because they are a part of the cultural fab-
ric, the rituals that follow Hindu immigrants
to the West may become a more conscious
decision, if not for them then certainly for
their children.

In the void that second-generation youth
often face, they often may pick up Hindu
practices only on a superficial level. "Dee-
pa," a second-generation Hindu on the East
coast, complains of this occurrence. "I think
there are a lot of second generation Hindus
who get sucked into [being overtly religious]
to be all 'Indian'. They just do it to fit in or
look good. Some of them don't even know
that much about it. They're not even into
practicing Hinduism in everyday life: they
just go to the religious gatherings."

Hinduism in America is further compli-
cated by the ways that non-Indians have been
drawn to Hindu traditions. Especially among
hippies and New Age movements, appropria-
tion and exoticizing of Indian tradition are
embarrassingly rampant. Deepa approaches
the subject cautiously. "I think it's kind of
strange," she admits. "Some of them are re-
ally fake. They're obsessed with themselves.
I just think of someone who gets into eastern
spiritualism because it's so focused on the
self — there arc people who just care about
themselves completely. The people who can
really get into it are people with money, and
that's like the opposite of what these religions
are about."

The lack of understanding exhibited by
the way that most Westemers take in Hinduism
is the result of an enormously different para-
digm. "In India, religions aren't organized like
here." Rohan notes. "There are swamis. but
they don't try to preach and control. If people
go to temple, they just go to puja and come out.
There is no preaching there "

As Nceta Bijoor. a second generation
Hindu-American who follows a swami in In-
dia comments, "Swamis advocate particular
w ays of thinking, but there are no mandates.
There is a lot of room for thought. I could go
to my swami and say. 'I don't believe you.'
and he wouldn't really care. I wouldn't be
kicked out of my community or religion." It
strikes Rohan that Westerners w ho arc attract-
ed 111 Hinduism "are into gurus because they
are u.sed to [the paradigm of] a priest giving

a sermon every week. But in India, you just
practice at home — whatever you feel like, or
whatever you learned from your family."

But although "new age" ceremonies are
often treated with scorn, there is something
attractive about the idea of reclaiming a tra-
dition and adding a freshness that makes it
significant to our lives. As a second genera-
tion Hindu, I often do just that. Facing gaps
in my remembrance of pujas and shiokas, 1
go by what feels right to me, whether that
means praying at home or going to the forest
to meditate. I can always ask my family ques-
tions about a particular practice, or research
answers myself — which I do from time to
time — but the particulars are ultimately sec-
ondary to connecting with the spirit within.
On major religious holidays, I might attend
community or temple events. For the most
part, though. I am driven by my own transi-
tions rather than those in the Hindu calendar,
which I cannot read. While I may not have
"absorbed" as much tradition as I would have
if I had grown up in India, what matters is
what I (Jo know. Chanting mantras, practicing
yoga, and putting together an altar in my bed-
room. I piece together my own ceremonies,
creating rituals and traditions of my own. if

Shilpa Kamat is a writer and yoga teacher
who is currently working with homeless youth
in Northern California. You can write to her
at shilpa _kamat(a yahoo, com.

jfK^ MAY 10 2005

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As with religion, family, or cultural heritage, many
of our traditions have been shaped and passed
down from our communities. As neighborhoods and
communities evolve over time, so do the traditions
and rituals that define them. Many of the nine essays
featured below deal with gentrification. Too many of
us have seen our neighborhoods displaced and local
landmarks like a cherished family-owned restaurant
or corner grocery store closed down. But gentrifica-
tion is not the only story of neighborhood transfor-
mation. New traditions, like neighborhood activism
and cultural revitalization emerge when individuals
organize in their communities to create change. The
following personal essays and narratives are from
writers, activists, and everyday people who have wit-
nessed the ebb and flow of tradition in their own com-
munities — and a few who are creating new traditions
of their own.

Keidra Chaney
Spike

Uloilin9 for Iho Icincllorcl*/ Coll

When I mo\ed to the edge of the Ukrainian Village three years ago, 1
shopped for groceries at Edmar and Camiceria Jalisco. For a hot dog,
1 stopped at Odge's; for a beer, I stopped at Cleos. For a greasy diner
breakfast, I could go to Lorraine's. There were more trees and fewer
buildings, so my street felt both green and sunny.

These days, Camiceria Jalisco, with its butcher counter and pro-
duce aisle, has remodeled into the Rio Balsas convenience store; Ed-
mar will be a Dominick's in a year. I can still go to Odge's and Cleos,
but now we have a Subway. A new breakfast diner catering to less
greasy tastes has opened. Several new condos have gone up, and their
ground floors house insurance offices, realtors and dry cleaners. On
my street, trees have been cut down for no reason we neighbors can
think of And when the city broke my old sidewalk to lay down a new
one, they let big chunks crush my small garden. Now, my neighbor-
hood feels both brighter and colder.

Sometimes I wonder when my landlord will call us to ask if we
can meet him to talk about the rent. I'm waiting for him to raise it so
it's competitive with the rest of the Village. I'm waiting to see if any of
my predominantly Latino neighbors will move out, which would spell
an end to our annual Fourth of July family block party. I'm waiting to
see who my new neighbors will be in the condo windows across the
street from me. I'm waiting to see if the city will chop down any more
trees. Someday I won't be waiting any more; then where will I say 1
live?
-Amber Smock, Chicago

O
O
fvi

Cod*/ Uncho/en Corner/lore

As a child, Sundays were a nlual tor my family. The three of us.
Mother, sister and 1, would go to church, which was then followed by
a visit to our local green grocer. Being a 10-year-old who was more
interested in Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation video clip, the idea of go-
ing to church didn't excite me the way my mother would have liked.
And it seemed that the only reason I would be dressed and ready for
ten-thirty morning mass each week had less to do with genuflecting
and lighting of candles to save our souls and more to do with the pil-
grimage to Joe & Nancy's Fruit & Vegetable Shop.

Each week, Joe, Nancy, arid their flock of hard working fruit sell-
ers put on a mouth-watering array which put the lesson of temptation
to shame. There were always plump strawberries, in gleaming enviro-
plastic punnets ready for picking up and eating. Sometimes Joe would
have washed and de-stemmed the berries so that eager shoppers could
sample what was heaven on earth within deep red berry flesh.

Soon enough puberty hit both my sister and me, which brought
the weekly pilgrimage to the house of JC. as well as to Joe's, to a
screeching halt. Puberty may have hit the fruit shop too, as with the
least ideal timing, the small business went under. It happened on what
would have been any other regular Sunday, which saw the habitual act
of shoulders disappearing beneath the blankets, each time my Mother
would yell, "Wake up! You are going to be late for mass — again!" It
was the Sunday which saw the three of us walk up to Joe & Nancy's
where we were met with striking red paint across white cardboard.

The sign read, 'Because the bank refuses to help us, we can no
longer help you. Thank you for your support over the years.'

This put a stop to any redemption I was supposed to be involved
in at the age of twelve, and soon enough video clips on Sunday were
the only fonn of soul saving for a pre-pubescent teenager angry at the
system which took away the Joe and Nancy's of the world. It was so
sudden than no amount of praying would have brought back the joy
our ritual or the simple pleasures, which the fruit sellers brought a
young girl of the Rhythm Nation.
-Saffron Lux, Belmore, Australia

Don*( move. Or9<inizc!

1 used to go to street fairs and poetry readings with my Aunt Dawn
Alvarado, who lived in the Mission District for two decades. Now, I
have to drive three hours to go visit her. I'm pretty sure that there are
a lot of people here who would trade all the new cool cultural ameni-
ties for a simple dinner with their displaced friends. And yet, as a
lower-middle class single guy, the damage gentrification has done to
me, personally, is relatively minor.

Is the glass half-empty or half-full? If the glass is full of rancid
milk it doesn't matter. The only good that has ever come from the
displacement game is the good that organized communities ha\e
fought tooth and nail to make happen. Last November. I took a walk
through New York's Lower East Side with neighborhood activist
Chino Garcia. Through the haze of a neighborhood turned into a
playground there were tangible results of social struggle: many
hundreds of units of permanently alfordable housing, neighbor-
hood centers, bike repair co-ops. Almost every single site where
Chino's community still lived or worked, he started off the story
with "They were trying to kick the tenants out of there, but we or-
ganized and..."
-.lames Tracy, San Francisco

BiKer/uiccI Brookli|A

Some clKingcs .irc Mibilc Aiul those are the ones that seem to get to
me the most when I walk around my beloved Fort Greene, Brooklyn
The patisserie that's n block from my apartment. BAM Rose Cinemas

showing independent films. And of course, there's the new Starbucks.
But the giveaway is the much greater number of well-groomed vanilla
figures waiting for the C train at the Lafayette Avenue stop. I enjoy
the fruits of the yuppie invasion, but deep down I can't help resenting
\s hat brought them here.

Extreme overpricing of real estate in Manhattan has resulted in
Brooklyn becoming the latest conquest for aflluent but price-minded
homebuyers and renters. Brownstones that could have been purchased
in the 1970"s for the cost of a Honda Civic are now topping out for pric-
es as much as $ 1 .5 million. Rents have doubled, even tripled since when
1 first moved to New York ten years ago. At that time. Fort Greene was
being "revitalized" from a drug and crime-torn afterthought to a mecca
for .African American intellectuals, artists, and professionals. Spike Lee.
Chris Rock, and Erykah Badu all lived a stone's throw from my studio
apartment on Carlton Avenue. Fort Greene was the hip-yet-frugal place
to live for young, free-thinking folks of all races. But what realK made
Fort Greene a home for me was not just the celebrities and the beautiful
architecture and the open-mic poetry night at Brooklyn Moon Cafe. In
Fort Greene, lawyers and bankers shared the same block with teachers
and bus drivers. Single people and families. Young adults and the elder-
ly. Different races, ethnicities, and economic stratas made Fort Greene
what it was, a true inciting pot.

The rising cost of living in Fort Greene has forced many of those
deprived of six-figure incomes and rent-controlled leases out of the
area. After losing my lease on my affordable studio. I also left the
neighborhood for two years. I'm now back in Fort Greene, only be-
cause I'm sharing an apartment \s ith two roommates. And 1 get my hot
chocolate from Starbucks.
-Faith Pennick, NYC

Keepin* Ihe Cily "Cleon**

As a previously houseless, currently at-risk resident of the Bay Area
who has been gentrified, evicted, and displaced out of almost every
home, neighborhood, and community I have lived in. I speak as a
homeless scholar.

I am the daughter of a poor, mixed-race orphan and the grand-
daughter of a poor Irish woman who worked her entire life as a ser\ ant
of the rich, only to die landless, squatting on someone else's grave-
site, because even in death you gotta have land.

Homeless people were not bom that way: they used to be housed
So how do people lose housing, how does a community become land-
less, how do entire neighborhoods becoine displaced, and finally, how
does a thriving community of color become a place in need of a hy-
gienic metaphor i.e.. "that area needs to be cleaned up?"

Most often the root of evictions, displacements, and destabilized
communities is redevelopment and gentrification. Almost all Bay Area
communities now considered "blighted" and in the process of rede-
velopment were once thriving and strong. Consider the case of West
Oakland; once a thriving African Descendent community w ith Black-
owned businesses and the arts, it is now one of the targets for rede-
velopment and high-speed gentrification. Sometime in the late '60'$
the zoning laws were changed, allowing liquor stores to be placed on
every comer. Within what seemed like seconds, but really took abi>ut
ten years. West Oakland was a "crime-ridden" community, blighted
and in need of "clean-up."

Of course, the subversive capitalist "clean-up" process often be-
gins with the moving in of the unwitting, yet most often, privileged an
school studentygraduatc. Unwittingly, the artist turns the blighted area,
like West Oakland, into an "accessible" area, readying it for even-
tual redevelopment. Meanwhile, the remaining residents of color are
slowly but surely "cleaned-up" and eventually mostly cleaned out.
-Tiny, a.k.a. Lisa Garcia-Gray, San Francisco

(Vl

lomclhin* Ju/( Don*l To/le Ri9hl

When 1 was little, my father would often bring home a slab of ribs as a
treat for the family on the nights that he had choir rehearsal. The South
and West sides of Chicago were famous for the variety and abundance
of barbeque joints. The smell of barbeque cooking is as familiar to
black Chicagoans as the sounds of gospel, blues and jazz. It was the
scent that brought my brother and me to meet Daddy at the door.

The ribs would be wrapped in a paper container; fries on the bot-
tom, slab of ribs in the middle and two slices of Wonder bread on
top. Sauce soaked everything so the bread stuck. Friendly fights began
between parent and child about who would have the pleasure of eating
the slice of bread with the most sauce. In the comer of the container
was a paper cup of cole slaw so wet and soggy it left a trail of white
rivers in the brown sauce.

Today, while driving to my job in one of the North side commu-
nities where Starbucks and Gap stores are markers of gentrification, I
saw a sign for Leon's, one of the city's oldest '"que" joints, painted on
the side of a building. A branch of South side tradition living on the
North side. Excitedly (and hungrily) I pulled over.

No smells wafted from inside of the building as I got out
of the car. The people serving me were very nice but they were
not the shades of brown that we call black. The food was good
and was arranged as I expected (especially the bread). But the
cole slaw was encased in a plastic container, no seepage possible.

Somehow it just wasn't the same.
-Terri Johnson, Chicago

5lond and riQhU

Bronzeville is where the rich and wealthy and the famous live, and so
do I. My neighborhood is changing right before my eyes. The Stateway
Gardens' and Robert Taylor housing projects were torn dow n in 2004,
making room for condos, townhouses, and single-family homes.

Harold Washington Cultural Center is in the heart of the neigh-
borhood, and the Spoken Word Cafe is across the street where they
have poetry readings. In the summer. The African and Caribbean Fest
is in Washington Park.

Why should 1 ever want to give this up? Brick by brick, building
up the community and beautifying the neighborhood, I sec improve-
ments being done everyday, and 1 am glad to be a part of this change.
It is only going to get better and become a safer place to live.

Black and white people live here, and people of different nation-
alities are moving in every day. More business will start to open up,
and that will create more jobs for the community as the neighborhood
developments.

It will be harder for the middle and lower income people to stay
here, because of the rising cost of rent and the increase of taxes on
mortgages. Right now, there is Section Eight for low-income families
to help pay for their rent, but what if Section Eight is no longer in
existence? What if you don't qualify for Section Eight, because you
make a penny more over the guidelines to get help on your rent? What
would we do then?

1 want to buy in this area, but how can 1 afford it? Everything is
extremely expensive. But I won't be pushed out or be put out of my
neighborhood, because of the status of my wallet. I am going to climb
that social ladder and fight for the right to live here.
-Jean IM. Swanagan, Chicago

Crock/ in (he Sideuiolk

Politically speaking, Brevard County, Florida, is probably best char-
acterized by its choice in representatives — Dave Weldon. Weldon is
closely tied to the radical right and is largely anti-gay, anti-choice, and
anti-church and state separation.

In the '90s, Melbourne pro-life activists, implementing tactics
such as videotaping employees and clients, pressured the county's
only abortion clinic to close down. In 1994, Palm Bay city officials
and residents worked vehemently to close down the area's only Wic-
can Church, the Church of Iron Oak.

Even today, Brevard still seems like the Choose Life license
plate capital of the state, and I'm always astonished how many people
bra\ ely boast their hatred via One Woman One Man bumper stickers.

But if you can see past the ugly history, and the fact our county
reelected both Weldon and Bush in 2004, you'll find that progressive
ideals are nonetheless beginning to germinate, and Brevard's legacy
of intolerance is finally being dismantled. One of the pivotal periods
in the evolution of our community was the buildup to the war in Iraq.
A small group of us started meeting to talk about taking action to pre-
vent the war. The result: two demonstrations with over 500 people in
attendance — Arlo Guthrie even dropped in to play a few songs at one.
Progressives were fed up and tired of being quiet.

Three years since the public erupted with outcry against the war,
Brevard is ablaze with loud liberals, who are organizing, preparing to
run for office, and participating in our democracy like never before.

Two days after the counter-inauguration demo, dozens of pro-
choice activists commemorated the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And,
in the run-up to the election, an almost equal number of pro-gay mar-
riage supporters turned out to oppose an anti-gay marriage protest in
Palm Bay.

Just as many Americans joked about moving to Canada after the
election, my wife Desiree and I often talk about wanting to move to a
liberal community. But if we really want to take back our country, we
need to be pioneers, boldly bringing our moral ideals to the very com-
munities most festering with hatred and prejudice. It's not enough to
simply join some haven for progressive thinkers. The only way to save
our Constitution and our nation's legacy of freedom for all is fi-om the
inside out.
-Jeff Nail, Florida

continued next page

... if we really want to take back our country,
we need to be pioneers, boldly bringing our
moral ideals to the very communities most
festering with hatred and prejudice. It's
not enough to simply join some haven for
progressive thinkers. The only way to save
our Constitution and our nation's legacy of
freedom for all is from the inside out.

YiYQ Chueki|!

It felt good going to a place where everyone knew me and my fam-
ily, "Tu gente" (your people), as Chucky would say. Chucky owned
the local boJegu across the street from my house on Ashland and Le
Moyne. He had emigrated from Cuba during the Mariel exit in "59 and
ended up "Chasin' a skirt," as he put it, all the way to Chicago in '7 1 .

Chucky 's spot was live. He'd play nice Caribbean music from
open to close and always had something funny to say. His staff con-
sisted of a butcher we all called Shank and Judy, the lady who worked
the lottery machine.

Shank loved cutting meat. Sometimes he'd take my brother and
me to the back and show us random animal organs, explain their func-
tion, and tell us how they should be cooked and eaten. Judy was con-
sumed by makeup. Every time I came into the store she was putting
some on, taking some off, or touching up some part of her face. She
was the first and only person I'd ever seen do her face up using only
a lipstick. She used it straight up on her lips and blended it with some
cocoa butter for her cheeks and eyes. It was wild!

Sometimes I'd go to Chucky 's even if my mom didn't need any
rice or beans. I'd go for the show. We all knew that on Saturday morn-

ings he brewed his special Cuban coffee, which brought out all the
locals. They'd sit on benches and chairs outside the store and talk poli-
tics, music, and local happenings. Chucky 's was the core of the neigh-
borhood. Thai's where we'd buy our food, play our numbers, and pass
the time. But. things change.

Change came upon the neighborhood in the late" 80's. Chucky
sold his shop to a Korean couple with a child. They were polite. He
said he wanted to spend the "winter of his life" somewhere warm and
sunny, away from all the noise. That's ironic because he was the one
who initially brought the noise ... the music, the conversation, the in-
teraction that had been missing in our neighborhood for so long. He
brought us together and gave us a place to hang out, a stage.

I'm thankful to have been a part of an engaged and conscious col-
lective of individuals, who really talked to one other, shared their lives
and ideas, and helped elect the first Black mayor in Chicago. I've not
experienced a true sense of community since the bodega closed, but
I've not given up on ever finding it again.
-Evelyn Delgado, Chicago "if

o
o

Matthew Nafranowicz strikes a balance as

Upholsterer for the People

Illinois native Matthew Nafranowicz is a craftsperson with old-school skills.
16"- and 1 /'"-century skills, as it were.

Nafranowicz, whose upholstery business The Straight Thread is
located in the Madison Enterprise Center in Madison, Wisconsin, studied
the art/craft as an apprentice in France. The furniture-making techniques
he learned have been passed from person to person for centuries. "The
[upholstery] trade is so much more alive there, it's well received in the
community and country as a whole," he commented. "[The French
government] provides funding to keep the skills alive. Without trying, it's
something that could be easily lost."

Onginally a biology major in college, he first got into upholstering when
he responded to a help wanted ad. "I found it intriguing," he said. "I was into
visual things like shape and form. I was good at using my hands."

The transition from would-be ornithologist to upholsterer occurred when
he started questioning his desire to become a scientist. He decided to move
to a big city and found work with a French interior designer in New York.

Nafranowicz became an apprentice in a foreign country with
essentially no language skills when he went to France with his wife, a
student of French history,

"That was the experience that made me realize this is what I want to
do," he said. "I really physically enjoy doing it."

Most of the work Nafranowicz does today isn't the very fine traditional
work he learned in France, but rather work on regular furniture people need
to have done.

Among the tools and supplies in The Straight Thread's tidy workroom
are cushion stuffings like horsehair and seagrass. These matehals were
abandoned, at least in the United States, before World War II in favor of
cheaper ones

"With furniture's mass production at a large scale, they came up with
different things to cut corners. One thing that takes the space of something
that costs more. They're shortcuts. Now it's like [the focus of production] is
quantity and less cost These objects don't have the beauty they would if
done the traditional way or last as long "

Though eschewing the mass-produced is very punk rock, there's an
unfortunate inherent conundrum in any well-made item Ikea. the example

Courtney Becks

Nafranowicz mentions by name, is familiar to and extraordinarily popular
with many people for the precise reason that it makes attractive, stylish
furniture available to the same people who can't spend S8000 on a bureau
as a unique piece of functioning art.

"[It] allows you to buy inexpensive furniture. Ifs made to be mass-
produced so it can be affordable for almost anyone. Things that are hand-
made are, on a certain level, only for the elite," he said.

Yikes. Not so punk rock.

But, as Nafranowicz points out, the key might be in balance, a virtue
we in the United States constantly extol, yet aren't necessanly any good
at maintaining; "People in this country instead of building a more modest
house and [having] fewer really good items build a bigger house not as
well-made, full of cheaper furniture. Its a balance of how much you really
need."

Well-made furniture, he points out, is good for the second-hand market
because it will last decades longer than anything made by everyone's
favorite purveyor of Swedish cheap and chic

Even if everyone can't or doesn't want to buy a Louis XV settee, its
still possible to support artisans and craftspeople Of course, an obvious
benefit of buying a hand- or well-made item is knowing its maker and his
or her working conditions. More than that, and most optimistically, it places
people in a — hopefully — happy web of relationships, knowing that we
can fulfill each others' needs ■A-

Reflections

Hippie

ChildhipJ

I am a native of an invisible culture.
You probably won't recognize my
cultural background if you meet me. In
fact, I didn 't even realize that my cul-
ture was a culture until I was an adult.
My parents were homesteaders.
We ground our own flour and raised
goats. We spent time in "intentional
communities." When I went to school
for the first time at age ten, I realized
that my world was an aberration. I
learned to speak the language of the
mainstream. 1 learned to like Cyndi
Lauper and Madonna. I learned not to
mention certain things to certain peo-
ple, not to use certain words in certain
places. ("Don't mention solstice ritu-
als to your normal friends. Don't tell
your teachers you're 'pissed off.'") I
learned to pass for "American."

,.,wo Rebecca

In high school, far from the community
where I grew up, I liked to regale my friends
with stories of my "hippie childhood" — no
indoor plumbing, lots of naked people, a huge
rubber dildo as a Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Fun to be shocking, but that was about it.

Until my freshman year in college, I
hadn't really come in contact with anyone
outside the communities I grew up in who
shared my traditions. My background was de-
fined by its outsider status. We were the coun-
ter-culture. Sometimes 1 told people where I
came from, but it was always to point out my
difference.

But in college, living in student-run co-
operatives, we started to find each other. We
found each other because we were not like
the other coop denizens. We weren't trying
to make a statement by living cooperatively.
We weren't rebelling against our suburban
parents. We already knew about organic food.
We already knew how to cook. We were liv-
ing in the coops because they were the closest
thing around to the way we were used to liv-
ing. We were bewildered by our housemates"
ferocious enthusiasm about things that were
normal for us.

yost

We began to realize that we were differ-
ent. But not in the individual "shock everyone
with the details of my hippie childhood" way
that we were used to. We were collectively
ditTcrent. One of us joked that he was in a
cross-cultural relationship because his girl-
friend had grown up in the mainstream. We
laughed. And then we realized it was true.

Our culture is, in our generation, no
longer a counter-culture. We are not counter-
anything. We are natives of this terrain. Our
culture has its own traditions, its own values
and social codes, its own foods and food-
ways. Our culture is alive and evolving as a
culture, no longer defining itself in opposition
to anything.

Our food traditions are possibly the best
known, the most emblematic of our culture.
Nutritional yeast (and sometimes tamari)
on popcorn. Tamari on just about anything.
Brown rice. Whole wheat bread. Big pots of
soup. Big pots of everything. Always room
for one (or six) more at the table. Food is cen-
tral. And social. And abundant. Tastier than
the food we grew up with, too. Our parents
often cooked more tor the sake of theory than
food. (Many of our parents, especially the

o
o
01

l\)
-J

o
o

vegetarians, cooked under the "complete pro-
tein" theory: bean + grain = complete protein,
therefore lentils + rice = dinner, never mind if
they don't taste very good.)

Our culture is traditionally suspicious of
doctors. We are more likely to reach for garlic
than antibiotics, more likely to drink teas than
take pills. We are fairly sure that our minds
affect our bodies, but we are also suspicious
of our parents' new-age "it's all in your mind"
philosophy. Many of us have spiritual prac-
tices, but we don't tend to advertise them.
Most of us cringe at o\er-public declarations
of "spirituality."

Group interactions in our culture can
sometimes confuse people from the main-
stream. We tend to treat each other as family,
whether or not we are related. We are at home
in each other's houses. We do not have cat-
egories like "host" and "guest." If you come
into one of our houses and ask if you can
have a drink of water, we might look at you
blankly and motion toward the sink. If we are
familiar with host-guest relations in main-
stream culture, we might explain the situation
to you — that "make yourself at home" should
be taken literally in this situation.

We are "at home" with each other in
ways that mainstream culture might find
surprising or rude. If at one of our gather-
ings someone wants to sit in the comer and
ignore everyone, no one will blink. If some-
one suddenly announces that they're leaving
early and doesn't offer an explanation, none
is required. In the same way, it's perfectly ac-
ceptable in our culture to drop in on someone
unannounced, even if you haven't seen him
or her in years. It's also perfectly acceptable
for someone so dropped in on to go on with
whatever they've been doing without acting
as "host" for the "guest."

We are also at home u ith each other physi-
cally. We tend to be close. We hug for no reason.
Pile eight people on the couch. Sleep three or
four to a bed. if necessary, or if we feel like it.
Nudity is common. None of this is necessarily
sexual, though we don't ignore sexual energy.

Sex is not taboo. We have sex, but prob-
ably not more than anybody else. We tend to
be pretty accepting of different kinds of re-
lationship arrangements. Wc are often close
friends with our exes.

Not everyone with "hippie parents" is a
part of our culture. There are definitely cases
of reactive reassimilation: "Oh my God I was
so traumatized by my hippie childhood, now
;iil I want is a minivan and a picket fence."
But I find that most of these people were ne-
glected by their parents in some way. 1 can
think of one family that ended up in Mexico,
the parents too perpetually stoned to feed
their kids. The oldest daughter was seven at
the time, and she leameil to scavenge and
cook and keep things together. ,\s adults, she
and her siblings have had strong negative re-

actions to things counterculture, and i can un-
derstand why. But most of the "second gen-
eration" adults that are a part of my culture
had parents who. though they may not have
had it together on a lot of levels, at least fed
and clothed us adequately.

Not all of our parents were hippies.
Some were homesteaders, some were intel-
lectuals or artists or just vaguely bohemian.
All raised us with what has become our cen-
tral cultural value: do what's important to you
and don't worry about what people think.

Funny thing is. our parents (our culture's
first generation) were really quite worried about
what people thought. They worried about creat-
ing themselves in opposition to the mainstream
culture. They wanted people to notice that they
were different, that they were rejecting one
thing and embracing an alternative. Our house-
mates in the co-ops were the same way.

But our culture's second generation tends
to find the "difference on purpose" forced.
Most of us are not interested in joining the
mainstream, but neither are we interested in
standing out for the sake of standing out. We
stand out w hen it is natural for us to stand out
and blend in when it happens that way.

In fact, our generation tends to be aller-
gic to anything that feels forced, anything that
smacks of trying too hard. Most of us cringe
when our parents or friends want to "pro-
cess" something. My old roommate says of
us "If we need to talk about something, we

talk about it, we don't need to make a big an-
nouncement about It."

I'm not sure exactly what to make of
this. In a certain way, our entire culture ex-
ists because our parents forced things. They
developed a theory about how to do things,
and forced themselves to follow it. With their
declarations and oppositions, they created a
space that we, the second generation, now
inhabit. And in that space between counter-
culture and mainstream, we grew into a new
culture.

It's a culture that values experience over
theory, shades of gray over black and w hite. It's
a culture of translators, interpreters, enamored
of subtlety, suspicious of hard conclusions.

As 1 am suspicious of hard conclusions,
I won't make any here. If the first generation
forced it and the second generation is going
w ith the flow. I am curious about the third
generation of our culture. My niece turns
eight next month. She is a smart, self-pos-
sessed girl. She eats popcorn w ith nutritional
yeast and plays with Barbies. She takes echi-
nacea for colds and learns about the pilgnms
in school. We shall see. "ir

Rebecca Hartman grew up in Lobelia. West
llrginia. She now lives in Bratllebom, Vermont
with a moile}' assortment of semi-grown-up
children of the "counterculture. " Reach her at
reheccach@gmail. com

You call this a DEMOCRACY?

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our troubled land — the nation that
we Americans call "middle class."
Instead he shows us how we are ruled
by a handful of top dogs and what we
must do if we want to get those dogs
out of our lives. Hurray!

— Jim Hightower, author of Let's Stop

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2005

Maybe it had to do with the beer, or the heady mixture of languages, or the humid-
ity, but it felt like something unique was growing out of the sweaty discussions and
incessant drum circles. It wasn't the same energy one feels at a large protest or indoor
activist conference, and it was more than a tropical version of Woodstock. There was
a feeling at the fifth annual World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil that something
extraordinary was happening.

In this week-long party of ideas and networking, another world seemed very pos-
sible. But when such an event occurs, it's hard not to wonder what will happen when
everyone goes home. What went wrong at this international crossroads? And where
might it go from here?

words and photos Benjamin DangI

o
o

A key ingredient in this globalized stew was face-to-face con-
versation with like-minded people from around the globe. At a time
when communication is dominated by cell phones, television and
the Internet, 200,000 people congregated in one city just to talk with
each other. There were Indian students sitting under trees conversing
with aging members of Brazil's Workers Party. Argentineans shar-
ing mate (a thick herbal tea) around campfires with Canadian media
activists and North Americans listening to stories of water privatiza-
tion from Ghanaians.

"You always leave the World Social Forum with more than you
arrived with," Pupi Palcro, a member of a program in Mendoza. Ar-
gentina that works with micro-credit for women, said. She has been
to the WSF in Porto Alegre four times. "Sure, there are people who
go to the forum and then just leave and do nothing. Others are in-
spired to work more. Like me, on a personal level the forums gave
me a lot of hope, and after going to the first forum in 2001, 1 realized
I had to do something, so I began working more with organizing and
activism in Mendoza."

For many participants, the forum is all about global networking.
"You can run into a large amount of diversity, and people from all
over with information about anti-capitalist politics, human rights and
the environment and so on," Jimena*, from Cordoba, Argentina, said.
"But, more than the conferences, it offers a chance to meet people and
talk with them about the different themes important to thein, get to
know what the problems are from their countr> and region, get con-
tacts and organize for specific actions and programs."

The WSF was founded in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil to parallel
the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual gath-
ering of business and political leaders. Whereas those at the Davos
forum believe the world can be improved through free market busi-
ness deals, the WSF is a process of seeking and building alternatives
to neoliberal policies. Four of the five social forums have been held in
Porto Alegre. Last year it was in Bombay, India and this year it was
back in Brazil during the last week in January. From day one of the
WSF, activists of all ages arrived in Porto Alegre. Some traveled in
bus or plane; others hitchhiked.

A space for the democratic exchanges of ideas and experiences,
the WSF is home to panels and workshops led by intellectuals and
representatives from social movements and ci\ il society groups from
around the globe. Previous participants include Noam Chomsky,
Arundhati Roy, and Naomi Klein. The events are organized around the
WSF slogan, "Another World is Possible." This other world is meant
to be one without war. injustice, racism, and economic inequality.

For all of its colorful topics and variety, the instant gratification
of the forum left some people wondering how much they were actu-
ally learning. "It is contradictory that you get a lot of information,
exchanges and experience in such a short time." explained Leo Kue-
hberger. a PhD student from Austria and author of the book He Make
Hisioiy about the anti-globalization protests in Genoa. Italy. "For ex-
ample, if I wanted to understand the experience of factory workers in
my town it takes months, years. So can I really understand that much
in a week at the social forum?"

The 2005 WSF didn't come without its faults. For example, work-
shops were often canceled or relocated without any prior announce-
ment, translators sometimes ne\ er showed up. or a band played next to
the tent, drowning out the speaker In spite of this, or perhaps because
of it. some of the best aspects of the forum w ere not the organized
events, they were the informal talks people were able to have day and
night with each other on topics ranging from Bush's re-election to
alternative media in Patagonia.

The forum w as comprised mainly of tents and buildings, some
of them mildly air conditioned, situated along the beach of the Guaiba
River. In the middle of the WSF expanse was the city's Harmony Park,
home to the International Youth Camp, an event organized to provide
cheap accommodation and youth oriented acti\ ities for WSF acti\ isls.
Some 35,000 people stayed at the camp, \\ hich was full of non-stop
discussions, debates, film screenings, partying and music.

The Youth Camp, because of its central location and festi\ e at-
mosphere, was the life of the party. \'ct the energy of both events fed
ofTof each other. "There are so many young people here, and the WSF
produces an incredible awareness in them," Paolo*, student from Por-
to Alegre commented. "They're the ones who will be the intellectuals

o
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>-
•o

<vi

'1f s not possible to continue to say
'another world is possible' if we do
not make some proposals about how
to reach this other world."

and leaders in the future. The forum allows youth to interact with the
most imminent intellectuals of the left, who are able to pass their ex-
perience and knowledge on to younger people. It is an experience that
will stay with them forever."

Other aspects of the forum were more problematic. "One huge
issue at the WSF was gender dynamics," Nadja Millner-Larsen, a re-
cent graduate from New York's Bard College, said. "There was an
enormous lack of women on the panels at the social forum. I attended
this one panel on the anti globalization movement and at the end of it
a lot of women stood up and said, 'How can we create another world
when we don't have healthy gender dynamics in these panels?'"

"Some of the men said, 'Okay, we should pay attention to this."
But others on the panel had this age-old response that been going on in
the left since the sixties. They said, well, classes aren't equally repre-
sented, nor race, therefore you shouldn't be so outraged by the under-
representation of women."

"Tr.is is skirting around the issue," Millner-Larsen continued. "If
a black person in a white audience asked why there aren't black people
on a panel, the speakers wouldn't say, 'Relax there aren't any women
either.' Here we are thirty years later and we are still arguing class and
gender against women ... it's shocking. To allow this unequal gender
distribution to be sanctioned within the official forum obviously has
this kind of trickle down effect in the youth camp."

In addition to hundreds of robberies and numerous fights in the
Youth Camp, rapes were reported there as well. "There was a high
level of violence in the Youth Camp, Millner-Larsen explained. 1 felt
more scared there than 1 really have traveling anywhere else. 1 got the
sense that being alone in the camp was a really dangerous thing."

Another controversy this year was the drafting of a manifesto of
demands and proposals, which was strange for an event that prides
itself on not making demands. The points of the manifesto included
the promotion of equitable forms of trade, the implementation of anti-
discrimination policies for minorities and women and demanding debt
cancellation for third world nations. It was created by 19 high pro-
file WSF activists and writers including Nobel literature laureate Jose
Saramago, Le Monde Diplomatique director, Ignacio Ramonet, and
Uruguayan writer, Eduardo Galeano.

For some, the manifesto was a healthy step for an event many
believed had been counterproductive. "It's not possible to continue
to say 'another world is possible' if we do not make some proposals
about how to reach this other world," said Ricardo Petrella, one of the
presenters at the press conference on the manifesto.

Read more about the history of the WSF on page 63

Others believed that 19 intellectuals deciding what 200,000 peo-
ple believed in contradicted the WSF principles. Brazilian Internation-
al Committee member Candido Grzybowski, was unhappy with the
decision to create the manifesto and refused to sign it. "The contents
of this proposal are perfect, and I believe 80 percent of the forum par-
ticipants would agree with it." Grzybowski said in an interview with
Terra Viva. "What kills this proposal is the method with which it was
created and presented ... It goes against the very spirit of the forum.
Here, all proposals are equally important and not only that of a group
of intellectuals, even when they are very significant persons."

Leo Kuehberger didn't believe the WSF manifesto had much sig-
nificance. "The WSF is a process that cannot be controlled by anyone.
I don't care what the results of the forums are. Maybe most people
don't care about these proposal or points. No one looks at these things
and says, 'Oh, we should concentrate on that this year.' It is not about
the results on the micro-level. There may be results on paper, but most
people care about results made in a personal way, a direct, person-to-
person experience."

The day after the forum, the circus left Porto Alegre. .People
packed up their tents, stuffing numerous pamphlets and dirty clothes
into their backpacks. Artists, musicians, writers and students piled
back into buses and cars for the long ride home. Sweaty activists with
laptops under their arms boarded planes, some leaving the palm trees
and samba to return to snow and subzero temperatures.

Next year, the WSF is scheduled to be spread out in regional
forums around the world, and in 2007 it will take place in Africa. For
many, it is difficult to say what the fijture might have in store for the
WSF, whether its popularity and significance will fade, or whether its
organizational aspects will change dramatically. "Now it is an open
situation, everything is possible," Kuehberger explained. "Maybe in
two years there will be no social forum, or maybe it is growing. We're
in a very open situation."

Gustavo Orego works with a participatory democracy NGO in
his home town of Rosario, Argentina and has been to four of the social
forums. "When the forum stops being a necessity, people will stop go-
ing," he explained. "The forum is not an end, it is a medium. Now it is
a necessary encounter." "^

* Asked that their last name not be used for this article

Benjamin DangI is the editor of www. UpsideDownWorld.org, an on-
line magazine about activism and politics

o
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U)
W

o
o

Two years ago, on an other-
wise random day in Texas,
the ethnic scales finally tipped.
So-called minorities became the
majority in the state for the first
time since Texas was part of
Mexico. The Census Bureau re-
ported, without much fanfare, that
the numerical presence of whites
was no longer as great as that of
the masses of Asian, Latino, Na-
tive, and African descendants in
the Lone Star State.

worrit l.D. Pleucker
illustration Brandon Bauer

Today, the state infamous for execut-
ing the most prisoners is also poised to be-
come the face of a new progressive America
as blacks, Latinos, and other people of color
increasingly take on positions of power in
government. It would feel good to say it ain't
George Bush's Texas any more — but it
wouldn't be true.

Even though the population of Texas is
rapidly changing, the old ways remain — and
Texas-style populism has a lot to do with it.
Now a folksy, down-to-earth style sported by
both conservatives and progressives, Texas
populism began as a multiracial, leftist politi-
cal movement in central Texas farm countrv"
in the late 1 800s.

A century later. President George W.
Bush popularized the right-wing version of
Texas populism, wearing cowboy boots and
inviting European leaders to discuss world
security at his sprawling Crawford, Texas,
ranch. With philosophical and historical roots
in the worst of Texas racial hatred, conserva-
tive Texas populists like President Bush and
Karl Rove are hard at work exporting Tex-
as-style inequalities and biases to far-flung
reaches of the globe. Their more right-wing
cousins include groups like the Republic of
Texas militia, who advocate for the indepen-

dence of Texas from the rest of the country,
alleging that the Unites States illegally stole
Texas in the 19th century.

The progressive take on Texas popu-
lism is one that does not get nearly as much
mainstream attention, but has achieved w ide-
spread recognition in progressive circles. Na-
tional figures like Jim Hightower and Mollv
Ivins have managed to gain a foothold in the
progressive community, projecting their own
brand of what Texas is all about. They write
and organize with a Texas twang, sporting
cowboy hats, boots, and spurs — just like
the president they despise — but recalling an
earlier, extensive tradition of left-wing popu-
list organizing that once made Texas known
around the country for its groundbreaking
progressive activism.

However, the reach of left populism has
diminished over the years. "The present dav
reality is that, for the most part, populism in
Texas has been hijacked by the radical right;
their takeover of the Texas Republican party in
the late 1 980s and 1 990s w as indeed a grass-
roots revolution." Dav id Van Os. a statewide
progressive Democrat leader who ran for a
Texas Supreme Court seat in 2004. said.

"Populism has been co-opted and turned
into a brand by the right," historian Neil Folev

3 New Tradition Of

Texas Populism

is on the Horizon

added. "I don't think people think of the 19th
century Populist Party when they say popu-
lism. Populism today is why the first George
Bush used to take his jacket off and roll up his
sleeves: to look like a regular guy, at least un-
til people found out he had no idea what the
price of milk was or what a swiping machine
was." Foley and others argue that the right in
Texas has been more successful than the left
at appropriating and selling the language and
imagery of populism. It has become the Bush
attitude, a brand to sell the Republican Party.
The Bush family is able to do this even
though they are not even from Texas, bom in
Connecticut and transplanted to the state from
the northeast in order to exploit the oil wealth
of the state. They may be bom yankees, but
they have managed to exploit the imagery of
Texas populism for their own ends.

The Roots of the Populist Divide

In the late 1800s, populism had an agrar-
ian base, rooted in the injustices that black,
white, and Mexican small fanners faced on
their land. Greedy banks were lending farm-
ers money at outrageous rates and the railroad
barons were profiting off transporting the
bounty of their labor.

The Texas populist movement fought
and achieved some of the first industry regu-
lations in the United States. Gregg Cantrell, a
historian currently writing a book on the Tex-
as Populist Party of the 1 890s, said, "Many of
the policies that the Populist Party advocated
became Democratic Party orthodoxy — the
direct election of senators, going off the gold
standard, federal farm support programs. We
got all of these by the time of the New Deal in
the 194G.?."

Some of the most hotly debated issues,
and most relevant for 21"' century mullira-

cial Texas, are the racial positions taken by
those early Populists. Neil Foley, professor at
University of Texas-Austin and author of the
book The White Scourge, has researched the
lives of poor black, Mexican, and white cot-
ton farmers in central Texas during this period.
"There were cross-racial alliances in this pe-
riod, particularly between African-Americans
and whites, that serve as a startling example,"
Foley said. "The alliances were very tempo-
rary and fragile in part because of the power of
white supremacy as an ideology and as a set of
cultural practices." However, despite the chal-
lenges, multiracial groups of farmers were able
to, at some key moments, "Unite and Fight,"
as a popular Populist slogan put it.

This agrarian radical movement largely
ended after 1896 when the Populist Party
nationally decided to back the Democratic
presidential candidate William Jennings Bry-
ant. When Bryant lost, it brought about the
demise of the Populist Party, sparking a radi-
cal racial backlash. Populist leaders in Texas
like Tom Watson and Cyclone Davis (who
worked for racial unity in the 1 890s, going so
far as to fend off lynch mobs attacking black
Populists) blamed African Americans for the
defeat. As Cantrell explains, "This is where
we get populists like George Bush and David
Duke — really the right wing populism has
its roots in that backlash after the turn of the
century."

Right-wing populism went on to gain a
firm hold on Texas politics, but the original
farmers and working people who organized
and struggled for justice across color lines
in the 1 890s provided the base for the Texas
progressive populist tradition.

"The thing to remember is that for almost
the whole 20"^ century Texas was a one-party
state: Democratic," Cantrell said. This meant
that the Texas Democratic Party was home to

a wildly divergent set of political ideologies
— from the arch conservatives to arch liber-
als — but the conservative wing of the party
always remained dominant.

The minority in the Democratic Party was
the liberal wing — identified most closely with
the 1950s U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough, the
only southem senator to vote for all civil rights
bills between 1957 and 1970. "Ralph Yarbor-
ough was almost the lone genuine progressive
who managed to get elected to office in the
20th century in Texas," Cantrell said. "He war-
rants the label of the heir to the Texas populist
tradition of the 1890s primarily because of his
stands for racial justice." Yarborough's cam-
paign slogan summed up his egalitarian plat-
form: "Let's put the jam on the lower shelf so
the little people can reach it."

Texas populist traditions in 2005?

There are people working today who self-
consciously see themselves as the descen-
dants of Yarborough and the Populist Party
of the 1890s. In addition to Jim Hightower
and Molly Ivins who work as writers and
media agitators, there are institutions like
Texas Observer magazine that carry on the
legacy. Ronnie Dugger, its founding editor,
wrote about the Texas Populist tradition and
described it as "part of the never-ending re-
volt of people everywhere against embedded
privilege and power."

Activists in the Texas Progressive
Populist Caucus of the Democratic Party
have fought to revive the tradition through
organizing statewide since 2002. As Stan
Merriman, its chairperson, said, "The con-
temporary message of populism is economic
justice." The caucus fights to preserve pop-
ulism's legacy, but without much electoral
success so far.

continued next page

At the Edge of America by Dan Gordon

How many teeth can a man lose before he stops smiling? This was the
question running through my mind as I met Luis Felipe Rodriguez at the
edge of America, in the trenches of Tijuana. Luis's mouth was a testament to
the desperate urge for survival that only airplane crash survivors and border
crossers can understand. Gaps as jagged and random as the terrain below
filled his mouth, his few remaining teeth perched like Border Patrol vans on
the rocky slopes of his gums.

His skin was the color and feel of an old baseball mitt as I shook his
hand, and a jailhouse tattoo of his initials was fading in the space between
his thumb and index finger His wiry body was straddling a boy's BMX bike
that was ridiculously too small for him, causing his legs to flop over the edges
and drag in the mud under him. But it wouldn't have surprised me a bit if he
suddenly turned around, winked, and biked across the concrete basin below
us, catching air at the basin's lip and sailing over the corrugated steel wall on
the other side. Nothing could stop Luis. He had snuck across the border 15
times, and each time he had been sent back. He spent six years as a prisoner
in Otay Mesa, the steel mousetrap where immigrants are held after being run
down by the Border Patrol and wrestled to the ground like animals. These

days Luis lives in a concrete drain pipe that empties into the dry skeleton of
the Tijuana River During the dry season the tunnel provided shelter, but on
a day like today the rain turns their homes into death traps. During a storm
the other week his friends fell asleep and never woke up, trapped between a
grate and a wall of water The irony was that when the waters finally receded
they carried their bodies to the other side. In death, they had finally made it
across.

Today it is raining again, and Luis's adopted family of outcasts is huddled
against the border As the rain falls harder they mumble amongst themselves,
realizing that this 2,000 mile border is good for nothing, not even keeping
them dry.

The others were all trudging back down the hill and piling into the heated
van, motioning for me to come. With a knot of guilt I waved to Luis as he dis-
appeared over the top of the ridge.

'Til see you in Americ-" he shouted, but I slammed the van door, embar-
rassed that I had begun to cry. As we pulled away he waved goodbye, defiant,
as he straddled the top of the hill in the middle of the downpour After all, how
wet can a man get before he just can't get any wetter? -i?

o
o

Cantrell, commenting on the Hightower-
Ivins camp. said. "They are the last corporal's
guard of the liberal wing of the Democratic
Party." These old timers need some back up
(or even replacements) if Texas is going to
have any kind of hopeful future.

Fortunately, numerous younger organiz-
ers and thinkers - primarily people of color
m cities across Texas - are reassessing and
reinventing Texas populism for the new cen-
tury. There arc those who fiercely identify as
Texans, reflecting the fact that their families

- Native, black, Mexican, and white - have
been here for generations and even centuries.
Many were reared with a tradition of Texas

— Texas history in school and Texas pride at
home.

Along with the die-hard natives, there
are more recent immigrants to the state who
cannot identify with these traditions and bring
their own history and struggles into the mix.

Together, these contemporary Texans
are deciding which traditions to carry on and
which to bury. And the progressive traditions
they find might not be the same ones that old-
school, cowboy-hat populists might expect.

The '60s race-based movements in Tex-
as — including Chicano movements and ur-
ban African American radicalism — brought
to the surface all kinds of indigenous radical
traditions. The African American movement
drew on a long legacy of resistance since
slavery, including the black Populists of the

1890s. The Chicano movements built on
centuries of resistance, even stretching as far
back as the Spanish conquest and indigenous
resistance to pacification in Texas. In a new
people-of-color-majority Texas, these tradi-
tions can only move into the mainstream.

Diverse communities now make up the
people of populism, so populism in Texas
will have to change with them. "Populism
is meaningless in Texas unless it is defined
by the new immigrant communities in Texas,
who are overwhelmingly Mexican," said Ta-
mara Jones, board member for a Houston arts
organization. Voices Breaking Boundaries,
and a longtime progressive activist.

"If you go to the East End (a historic
Latino neighborhood in Houston), how many
people know about Jim Hightower's writ-
ing? I love it, but it speaks to a very narrow
and shrinking population — a very elite
population. That is the challenge, not just the
changing demographics, but also the failure
to ground [populism] and redefine it in new
communities," Jones said. "What it demon-
strates is the disconnect between the people
who know that tradition and who speak that
tradition and who are most visible on the one
hand, and the people who define the populist
in populism."

The culture and politics of average Tex-
ans have already changed and the effects
are already beginning to be seen. The voters
of Tarrant Countv (which includes Dallas)

elected a Democratic lesbian Latina sheriff in
November. In Houston. Democrat Hubert Vo
unseated a 26-year incumbent good-old-boy
Republican, becoming the first Vietnamese
American to win a statewide seat in Texas. He
managed to win in a district that has become
one of the most diverse in the state — with
Chinese characters as prominent on the street
as English letters. Vietnamese eateries. South
Asian temples and mosques, a diverse array
of Latin Americans, and a growing African
population.

The new multiracial Texas will define
the future of Texas populism. It will undoubt-
edly draw on historic populist movements in
Texas, but it will also bring new and re-dis-
covered traditions to the forefront.

However, since the white minority (the
Bushes in particular) controls institutions and
government in the state, the majority of peo-
ple still lack decisive power. As Jones pointed
out, "This is a recipe either for revolution or
for tyranny." The roots of populism are strong
in Texas, but whether the future moves to the
left or the right remains to be seen. "A'

John Pluecker is a seventh-generation Texan
and a writer who is obsessed with the whole
Gulf of Mexico region. He welcomes thoughts
or comments atjp79(^^ail.com.

*"""'" SiafisfacflSrT

^U hi A Mi

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OutApril 19th, 2005

Distributed by Suburban Home
www.suburbanhomerecords.com

o
E

straightuioishing

If it's not enough of an indignity to be resoundingly spanked by the
passage of eleven amendments forbidding gay marriage, gay folk are
now in the position of reading articles in The New York Times announc-
ing that the Human Rights Campaign and other mainstream gay rights
organizations are engaged in a "debate over whether they should mod-
erate their goals in the wake of [their] bruising losses.'' In the face of
such a rout at the national level, the mainstream press seems to expect
that queers, tails between their legs, will follow the DNC in castigat-
ing themselves for promoting any agenda other than that of corporate
interests.

What's interesting to consider is how it became plausible for the
Times and other members of the press to read the success or failure of
gay marriage as indicative of the gay rights movement's relative prog-
ress. Or, more precisely, why "gay marriage" has come to stand for
gay rights, when historically, many of those involved in the gay rights
movement have fought not only to achieve sexual freedom, but also to
destroy those larger structures of power — classism, racism, and patri-
archy — that contribute to the oppression of those who are different.
Given the fact that some progressive queers read marriage as symbolic
of the very culture they seek to transfomi, it is not surprising that they
see the quest for marriage rights as inherently problematic.

words Rebecca Hyman
illustratio! Allison Cole

Yet it can also be said that because the
Right so successfully used the threat of gay
marriage to galvanize voters in the re-election
campaign of President Bush, those working
in mainstream gay rights organizations were
compelled to respond: the gay community
was under attack. And, following the truism
that "no publicity is bad publicity," it made
sense for them to re-appropriate the negative
attention by demonstrating that gay and lesbi-
an couples deserve the rights granted to their
straight married analogs. As stories about gay
marriage crowded out reporting on other is-
sues that could have been the central focus
of the movement, the debate about marriage,
either by default or by choice, appeared to be
the main concern of gay people as much as the
Christian fundamentalist base. At the pride
parade in Atlanta last suinmer, for example,
almost all of the floats focused on marriage,
and participants threw intertwined rings to
the spectators to remind them of the Chris-
tian Coalition's efforts to pass a constitutional
amendment forbidding gay marriage.

Although it makes sense that mass spec-
tacles, such as Pride Parades, would respond
to the dominant depiction of gays through
camp and resistance, the very success of the
Right in commandeering the rhetoric about
marriage served to exacerbate an already
existing tension in the gay rights movement.
What has happened among the queer com-
munity in the last two years is that the ques-
tion of gay marriage has become attached to
a larger debate between radical and assimila-
tionist camps about the political priorities of

o
o
ui

o
o

the movement. Should queers focus their attention on the way they are
depicted in mainstream culture, seeking dispensation from the larger
straight world, or should they work to achieve rights by transforming
American culture as a whole? Books like Jonathan Rauch's Gay Mar-
riage: Why its Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for Ameri-
ca, for example, argue that "same sex marriage extends and clarifies the
mission" of marriage by "shoring up the key values and commitments
on which couples and families and society depend." Others, like Mat-
tilda, aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore, editor of That's Revolting!: Queer
Strategies for Resisting Assimilation find it "ironic that the central sign
of straight conformity is seen as the pre-eminent goal of the gay rights
mov ement." For radicals like Mattilda, marriage is a signifier of class
priv ilege. a way of dividing a particular version of gay identity from the
larger queer community. Among queers, the prospect of gay moms or
dads, cheerily waving from the windows of suitably bumper-stickered
Volvos, seems to evoke either heartwarming ideas of social progress or
the urge to vomit and throw rocks, (hee hee!)

What does a gay family look like?

The Human Rights Campaign is a nonpartisan organization devoted
to advancing "equality based on sexual orientation and gender ex-
pression" and ensuring that GLBT Americans "can be open, honest,
and safe at home and at work." With a membership of nearly 600.000
and an annual budget of 30 million dollars, it is the largest and most
wealthy gay rights organization in the nation. Its task is twofold: to
lobby the federal government to include the needs of GLBT individu-
als and families in national legislation, and to support state gay rights
organizations in their efforts to lobby the legislature and overturn
anti-gay laws and ordinances. Last year, according to Seth Kilboum,
Director of the Marriage Project, the HRC gave 1.7 million dollars to
state gay rights organizations and devoted 1.6 million dollars to its
education and get out the vote efforts.

When the HRC decided to lobby for marriage rights, therefore,
it sent a strong signal to other organizations that gay marriage should
be the issue around which the gay movement should coalesce, and
many, such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Na-
tional Center for Lesbian Rights, followed suit. The HRC created an
ad campaign as a central component of their lobbying efforts, running
the ads in newspapers and periodicals with a readership potentially
sympathetic to gay and lesbian rights.

The ads — black and white photographs of gay couples — are
beautiful, and have a visual and textual consistency. One ad depicts a
white lesbian couple sitting under a tree with their daughter, another
an interracial lesbian couple who stand with their heads resting lightly
against one another, and yet another a "senior" white lesbian couple
who sit on a park bench holding hands. The text accompanying the
photos explains that "Anna and Marion are worried about losing their
house," whereas "Jo and Teresa don't qualify for full social security
survivor benefits even after a lifetime of paying taxes." Marriage, the
ads explain, will save these families from troubles straight couples
never have to face. Implicit in this stylized representation of gay fami-
lies is the argument that gay people deserve marriage rights because
they are "just like you," with the implied receiver of the adv ertiscmcnt
a straight, middle-class professional who is either alrcadv married or
aspires to be. The tacit link between the viewer and the people m the
photographs is their shared notion of what it means to be a family
quite literally, of what a family looks like.

Though the ads are attuned to the multicultural spectrum of gay
and lesbian couples, ihey are silent on the issue of class. The message
is clear: gays and lesbians work hard, save money, buy houses, have
children in short, want to achieve the American Dream and they
deserve its benefits because they pay their taxes like everyone else. To
be fair to the IIR( , it's important to renienibcr that the ad campaign
was designed not only to persuade viewers to vote against anti-gay

marriage amendments, but also to counter the propaganda put forth by
groups like James Dobson's Focus on the Family. When you're in an
image war. it makes sense to fight fire with fire — for every freshly-
scrubbed Christian family. HRC substitutes an impeccable pair of gay
men, designer pants neatly pressed, beaming proudly at their twins.

What's lost in all this attention to the politics of representation,
however, is the long-term impact these images have on the gay com-
munity and the element of the straight world that chooses to valorize
them. By arguing that gay couples deserve the recognition and rights
conferred on those who are married. HRC and others have also cho-
sen to create a particular image of gay culuire. one palatable to straight
people because the realm of diflerence exists in the space of the private.
Because most Americans believe in the right to privacy, and because the
Supreme Court overturned Bowers v. Hardwick, making sodomy legal.
HRC strategically evokes the law of the land to buttress the arguments
for gay marriage. Because gay couples diflfer from straight couples only
in the realm of sexual object choice, the campaign implicitly argues,
they should not be subject to discrimination.

In this sense, the argument for gay marriage becomes not only a
discussion about rights, but also about the distinctiveness of gay people.
If to be gay is just about a sex act. and now a legal one at that, then
discrimination against gay people becomes merely a matter of sexual
prudery. Anyone who is hip enough to realize that sexuality is more than
the missionary position, it would seem, should be able to support gay
marriage, and by extension, full gay rights.

But it is precisely this argument that denies the radical diversity of
queer culture, and the fact that queer identity, for most who embrace it.
implies far more than sexuality.

By representing the family as a nuclear unit composed of a couple
and their children, the HRC's ads tacitly reinforce the definition of the
family that fundamentalist Christians have claimed is under attack. So-
ciologists have long demonstrated that the notion of marriage and the
family that is currently celebrated by conserv ativ es is inherently w hitc
and middle-class, doesn't represent the majority of family structures in
the country, and is a recent invention. While it is hardly shocking that
conservatives are claiming an ahistorical definition of the family as a
way to promote a very contemporary agenda, it is notable that when
gays and lesbians share this definition, they erase the diverse models of
the family that are one of the hallmarks of queer culture. In this sense,
even as they fight for the rights for gay and lesbian couples, the HRC
and others capitulate to the idea that the conservativ e definition of the
family is the ideal standard to which all others hope to conform.

Rauch builds on this argument b> maintaining that established
couples benefit society by making a commitment to care for one an-
other Because this commitment is difficult, those who do the work
should receive special benefits. To the straight eye. gay culture ap-
pears to sutTer from "a case of Peter Pan syndrome." he concedes, but
"marriage says . . . if you will make a commitment, you will receive
the legal recognition and special status which only marriage brings. If
you assume the responsibilities of adulthood, vou will get the preroga-
tives." If those who are "adults" deserve special status, then bv exten-
sion, those who are single or who live in communal living arrange-
ments do not. Rather than arguing that all people deserve healthcare,
for example. Rauch and others contend that married people, bv v irtue
of their relationships, deserve more rights.

W hen I posed this challenge to Seth Kilboum, he told me that
"the healthcare system is broken" and that HRC "wants to be a part of
any debate" about refomiing the system. The question becomes, what
would happen if all the moncv raised to promote gav marriage was
instead used to lobby for universal healthcare?

Gay Sc\ Doth Not a Queer Make

For Mattilda, who quipped that HRC should stand for "homogenous
ruling class." the choice to make marriage the centerpiece o\' gav

rights is "frightening" because it demonstrates the power those in
mainstream organizations have to allocate resources and to choose
which segments of the larger queer community will receive the
greatest benefits. What has happened to the gay community, he
asks, when queer residents of the now valuable Castro neighbor-
hood of San Francisco protest the building of a shelter for home-
less queer youth because it compromises their property values?
It is only those who already have class privilege and property, he
argues, who are able to attain ftiU social equality when granted the
rights linked to marriage. "Why are homelessness and police bru-
tality not queer issues?" he asks, and why does the movement not
fight to overthrow the systems of power that discriminate against
many people, rather than just queers?

Among queers, the argument for gay marriage not only im-
plies a set of assumptions about class privilege and political pri-
orities, but also has become inseparable from the question of rep-
resentation. Because gay people lack the numbers and financial
power to attain civil rights, they must petition straight culture to
be recognized. Galling as this proposition is, it immediately raises
the question of what it means to be gay, in the eyes of the straight
world and then in the eyes of queers. To say that being gay is only
about sexual object choice is to argue within the narrowest possible
parameters. There is no need to engage the question of why mar-
ried people deserve health benefits and those in other communal
living arrangements do not. There is no need to define marriage,
and there is no argument about what it means to be queer. Instead,
gay people become straight people who love someone of the same
sex. Those who are transsexual or who refuse a fixed notion of
gender identity are not only left out of the current discussion, they
would have to create a completely separate set of arguments to
defend their civil rights.

If to celebrate marriage is. symbolically, to celebrate a tradi-
tional notion of the American Dream, then those queers who reject
gay marriage are also often rejecting a particular notion of being
- — one associated with whiteness, with class privilege, with subur-
bia, with monogamy, with children, with property. It is the whole-
sale rejection of American individualism, in fact, that is frequently
the subtext of the dissent, among queers, to the arguments for gay
marriage. It is clearly inconceivable to some Americans that there
are those who might not order their lives along this particular path
by choice, rather than by disenfranchisement. There arc certainly
many queers who Jo long for a traditional conception of marriage
and the family and are denied these structures because they are
different. And there are many queers who are, in most respects,
indistinguishable from their straight neighbors.

But what is important is that many who embrace a notion of
queer identity to queer not only sexuality but also being believe
that queer culture is vastly superior to that of the straight world
and is in danger of losing its voice under the marketing blitz cre-
ated by the queer wedding industry. The question becomes, what
would happen if all people were granted the rights accrued to mar-
riage, and not just couples? What would happen if the greatest,
most exorbitant fantasies of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell actu-
ally came true? In what ways would American culture be radically
changed not by the mainstreaming of virtually .straight couples, but
by the queering of America? 1 suppose the question 1 am asking,
one impossible to answer, is the extent to which the queer subcul-
ture is alternative in a creative or a reactive sense. It seems that
these questions have yet to be raised, precisely because those who
identify as queer want no part of mainstream culture, and those
who want in are willing, it seems, to sacrifice at least .some of their
privileges of diflFerence. ir

Rebecca Hyman is a writer and professor living in Atlanta, Geor-
gia. She can be contacted at rhyman33@bellsouth.net.

BORN IN FLAMES

Abby Sewell

In 1983, director Lizzie Borden's feminist sci-fi classic, Born in Flames, imag-
ined a future 10 years after the socialist revolution, and concluded that in a
Utopian state run by white men, women and minorities would still be ignored and
abused. In her vision, a group of women join forces to take over the state-owned
media and create their own revolution.

With this idea in mind, a group of progressive activists in Portland, Oregon
are organizing the Born in Flames Conference, a three-day event dealing with
sexual assault from a radical perspective. The conference is set to take place at
Portland State University, from June 24 to 26, 2005, and will encompass a wide
range of workshops, speakers, and discussion forums. The organizers include
women, transgendered people, and men, and the event is open to all sexual
assault survivors and supportive, concerned community members.

In the more mainstream circles of universities and non-profit organizations,
conferences on sexual assault are not hard to find. But in the radical-left com-
munity, the discussion has usually been relegated to workshops within confer-
ences focusing on sexism (A Different Kind of Dudefest in Washington, DC),
queer and transgendered issues, or race issues (the Anarchist People of Color
Conference).

According to Born in Flames Conference organizer Lauren Hartley, there
was a large upswing in organizing around sexual assault issues in Portland's
radical/punk community about two years ago. At that time, activists began dis-
cussing the idea of holding a conference on sexual assault. This year the confer-
ence is becoming a reality.

The first day of the event will focus on defining sexual assault and dispelling
some of the myths. The second day will address ways the community can support
survivors of sexual assault. The third will deal with accountability. Workshop topics
include consent, self defense, and survivor advocacy, among others.

Hartley said, "I feel like in the community there's a lot of lack of knowledge
of basic survivor support— basic things like you always believe the survivor—
which in the world of social services you would learn on day one."

One of the most difficult problems to address has been the issue of how
to deal with sexual assault perpetrators who are part of the radical community,
and who, in many cases, don't believe their actions qualify as assault. In the
United States, the vast majonty of rapes and attempted rapes are committed
by someone the victim knows— a friend, an acquaintance, a partner or former
partner. The situation is no different in the insular punk and activist scenes. And,
when alcohol and clouded judgment are added to the situation, the line between
consent and coercion becomes very thin.

Activists who experience sexual assault are often unwilling to go to the
police because of their own opposition to the authorities and, in some cases,
because they fear being ostracized by their friends. In these cases, radical com-
munities have to find their own methods of holding perpetrators accountable.

Portland's most vocal anti-sexual assault collective. Hysteria, some of whose
members are planning the Born in Flames Conference, has made a practice of
confronting accused perpetrators at punk shows and other public events. One of
the main tactics Hysteria has pursued is the promotion of "Safer Space Policies."
Places and events that want to be known as safer spaces post a written statement
to say they will not allow discriminatory and oppressive behaviors. The policy also
states, "Known sexual perpetrators are not welcome at any time."

Hartley admits the problem of dealing with perpetrators who may be our
friends and fellow activists is a problem no one has yet been able to deal with
effectively. "If they're ostracized, they maybe just leave the community and go
somewhere else and don't have to deal with their behavior."

She and other Born in Flames organizers hope the conference can provide
a space for people from all over the country to discuss issues like these in a way
that is constructive rather than divisive.

"I hope this can be a space where all different kinds of people can come
together and share experiences and create a place for discussion and educa-
tion," said organizer Sage Dillon.

For more information or to get involved in the conference, e-mail:
borniflamesconference@yahoo. com

Basketball, Bitch, and Beyond

1972

1984

1990

Title IX miraculously passes, guar-

Madonna releases "Like a Virgin"

Feminist rocker Am DiFranco starts

anteeing equal coeducation (transla-

and giris everywhere writhe on their

Righteous Babe Records.

tion: no more "bounce the basketball

beds.

three times and pass" in gym class).

1991

1985

Anita Hill testifies against Clarence

1978

The Guerilla Giris, a radical activ-

Thomas at his Senate Confinnation

Take Back the Night starts.

ist group of young feminists pissed

Heanngs. The riot grrri movement

off at the sexism permeating the art

emerges out of the punk music

1981

worid, stage theatncal protests.

scene, and homemade zines touting

RuPaul first appears on "American

feminism with a tom edge proliferate.

Music Show," pushing mainstream

Naomi Wolf publishes The Beauty

America to reconsider the strict gen-

1987

Myth.

der binary.

Jean Kilboume tours the country with

her documentary Killing Us Softly:

1992

1982

Advertising's Image of Women.

Tali Edut launches a multicultural

In a Different Voice by Carol Gilhgan

feminist magazine called HUES

argues that giris lose their true voices

1988

(Hear Us Emerging Sisters ) It fiokl|

as they ache into adolescence

The onginal Sassy launches

too soon

When I was about 14 years-old and hopelessly inept at getting
my frizzy hair to lie flat or my best friend, who was already
sexually active, to use a condom, 1 reluctantly started pulling feminist
books off my mom's shelf I was looking for a lot of things: comfort,
answers, but, ultimately, I was really looking for identity.

I didn't find it. 1 found a lot of middle-aged women writing about
the ERA and the GNP and none of it meant anything to me. When I
heard the term "third wave feminism," the light went on.

Lisa Jerv is, co-founder of Bitch magazine, recently wrote of the
term "third wave" in Ms.: "We've reached the end of the wave termi-
nology's usefulness. What was at first a handy-dandy way to refer to
feminism's history and its present and future potential with a single
metaphor has become shorthand that invites intellectual laziness, an
escape hatch from the hard work of distinguishing between core be-
liefs and a cultural moment."

Bui I can't help thinking about that frizzy-haired girl back in Col-
orado Springs who discovered a movement, and in the process, herself
by virtue of that name and all the newness that it suggested. "Third
wave," like hip-hop. was mine, not my mother's, and at 14 that really
meant something.

Certainly all third wavers, like all feminists, don't share the same
core beliefs. One of my best friends is a Republican scientist, another
is a Palestinian Muslim who adores Elvis and Martin Scorcese, plays
a bright pink electric guitar, and is dead set against abortion. These
women are part of my movement, no matter how divergent our views.

It is not our views that connect us. It is our approach, our shared
cultural influences. We email, IM, blog. We are open-eyed and hun-
gry. We are children of Madonna's lacy gloves and Queen Latifah's

"Who you calling a bitch?" We played sports or cheered on girlfriends
who did. We search the Internet for our answers.

Is this enough common ground to constitute a country of our
own? I think so.

In an effort to respond to Jervis's call to avoid "intellectual lazi-
ness," I have attempted to create a survey of third wave feminism. It
is intended to be a question, not an answer.

1 begin with Title IX because I believe it is the policy change
that echoed most widely and most profoundly among our generation.
According to a recent issue of O Magazine, 1 in 27 high school girls
played sports in 1972, but today 1 in 2.5 does. I then chose what I see
as the most captivating and influential cultural markers of our time

— the TV moments that became iconic, the books that reached an
audience wider than Women's Studies circles, the direct action that
transcended one time or place. I also try to draw on a variety of genres

— music, books, magazine, television, government, and film — and
public spaces — from suburbia to the city, hip-hop to folk rock, the
basketball court to the Senate floor. Finally, I end with Jennifer Baum-
gardner and Amy Richard's new book. Grassroots, because I believe
their message is representative of where we are headed: a movement
where emailing your friend information on the latest natural birth
methods is as valued as marching on the Mall.

1 look forward to seeing your additions and revisions. For what
are we if not the generation that talks back? iV

Courtney E. Martin is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker in Brooklyn,
New York. You can read more about her zany projects and good works
at www. courtneyemartin. com.

\\\\^

A^a^''

Surveying the Feminist Landscape

Courtney E. Martin

1993

Debbie Stohler and Marcelle Karp
found Bust "for women with some-
thing to get off their chests."

1995

Rebecca Wall<er, badass daughter of
Alice, edits 7b Be Real.

1996

The Third Wave Foundation is found-
ed. Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler start
Bitch Magazine.

B T TC H

1997

The first Lilith Fair sweeps the coun-
try. The WNBA tips off. Editors Leslie
Haywood and Jennifer Drakes pub-
lish Third Wave Agenda. Naomi Wolf
and radio producer Margot Ivlagowan
co-found The Woodhull Institute for
Ethical Leadership. "Buffy the Vam-
pire Slayer" premieres.

1998

The unstoppable Eve Ensler pro-
duces V-Day, a celebrity-packed re-
launch of her Vagina Monologues, to
raise money to end violence against
women. Time puts Clarista Flockhart
on the cover and lamely asks "Is
Feminism Dead?" "Sex in the City"
debuts on HBO.

2000

Third wave leaders Jennifer Baum-
gardner and Amy Richards publish
Manifesta. Appetites by Caroline
Knapp and Body Outlaws by Ophira
Edut and Walker illuminate the com-
plicated psychology behind eating
disorders. The Burlesque Revival
Association starts, and women strip
down in the name of sexy empower-
ment. Hilary Swank wins an Oscar
for her unparalleled performance in
Soys Don't Cry.

2003

Sarah Jones wins her suit against
the FCC for censoring her poem
"Your Revolution," an attack on politi-
cal revolutionaries who hypocritically
disrespent wnmpn

2004

The March
for Women's
Lives draws
over a million
to the steps
of the anti-
choice White
House. Edi-
tors Vivien
Labaton
and Dawn

Lundy Martin publish The Fire This
Time. Global activist Jensine Larsen
founds World Pulse magazine. The
"I Had an Abortion" project shocks
and awes.

2005

Baumgardner and Rich^irH; n ih!;.;h
their second book, Gr

-^ b Caitlin Corrigan

can Irish women keep a place for peace?

In the spring of 1996, "The Troubles" of
Northern Ireland had already claimed
3,000 lives, despite numerous negotiations
and ceasefire attempts. The most recent mani-
festation of a centuries-old conflict between
Protestants and Catholics, the time known
as "The Troubles"" began after the initially
peaceful civil rights movements of the 1960s
turned increasingly violent, and carried on
well into the 1990s. By 1996. Northern
Ireland's leaders were ready for some real
change, organizing elections for a round of
peace talks with representatives from all geo-
graphic areas and political and paramilitary
affiliations. With this new. comprehensive ap-
proach to peacekeeping, how then could these
leaders possibly overlook a grand 5 1 percent
of their constituency?

By not including any women on the can-
didate lists.

Lucky for Northern Ireland, Monica Mc-
Williams and nearly 100 other women were
already organizing the fight for representa-
tion in what would prove to be some of most
productive negotiations in the peacemaking
process. McWilliams and her colleagues lob-
bied the major parties to include women in the
talks, but after having their requests ignored,
they decided to form their own party. With just
seven weeks to get out the \ ote. the Northern

With a commitment to cross-party equality and
mediation guiding their policy-making, the NIWC's
approach at the talks was decidedly different from
the often divisive and exclusionary political climate
that has become tradition in Northern Ireland.

Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) was cre-
ated to contest the June elections. McWilliams,
a nationalist, and Pearl Sager, a loyalist, won
two seats at the table, with the NIWC coming
in as the ninth most popular party in elections
throughout all of Northern Ireland.

Writing in The Oh.scner. Monica Mc-
Williams says the defining characteristic of the
NIWC is their emphasis on inclusion and con-
sensus: '"We have a niche as a cross-commu-
nity party, appealing to Protestants, Catholics,
Hindus, atheists, and more. We are acutely
conscious that some 14% of people here do
not come from Catholic or Protestant tradi-
tions and slill more are politically homeless."

With a commitment to cross-party
equality and mediation guiding their policy-
making, the NIWC's approach at the talks

was decidedly ditTerent from the often di\i-
sive and exclusionary political climate that
has become tradition in Northern Ireland.
During the nearly two years of deliberations,
the women of the NIWC introduced fi-esh
perspectives and pushed for common ground.
Hov\ever, gaining basic respect from fellow
parties sometimes proved a daily challenge.
In a 1997 article in Insight on the News, Mc-
Williams responded to reports of Democratic
Unionist Party (DUP) members verbally
abusing NIWC reps during the talks, going so
far as to "moo" when the women entered the
chambers or during speeches. "The violence
of their tongues," she says, "has led to others
picking up guns."

This connection between political sec-
tarianism and street violence shows just
how difficult breaking tradition can be when
years of binary conflict serve to strength-
en existing divisions in a community like
Northern Ireland, promoting a male, na-
tionalist homogeny that pervades even the
politics of peace. The NIWC's commitment
to breaking up some of the old ways lasted
throughout the 22 month talks, which ulti-
mately resulted in the Belfast Agreement (or
Good Friday Agreement) in 1998.

"The NIWC played a key role in promot-
ing the Agreement," writes Kate Fearon in is-
sue 13 of Accord: An
International Review
of Peace Initiatives.
After the Agreement
was created, it was
voted into reality by
a public referendum
with citizens" over-
whelming approval.
The NIWC played a
part in educating vot-
ers, demonstrating an ability "to speak simul-
taneously to a number of constituencies: na-
tionalist and unionist, organized civil society
and individual members of the public."

The NIWC's strength comes from this
willingness to defy convention, simply by
seeking out unheard perspectives on the is-
sues. "I thirst to hear their voice and put my-
self in their shoes," McWilliams says in In-
sight. "To me that is knowledge that builds
for change. I have to build a new country and
that means getting together w ith people w ho
don't share my point of view "

As a young, fourth-generation Insh-
American woman sisiting Belfast last sum-
mer. I learned firsthand about the community,
finding warm welcome from the less conven-

tional side of Belfast. Tra\eling with my fiiend
Maura, we negotiated our way carefully at
first, learning to stay away from the university
area with its homogenous packs of women
in skinny high heels and groups of loud men
who shouted to us, inexplicably, in French. We
puzzled over our newfound exoticism — did
we actually look that foreign? Or was the sight
of two women laughing loudly and walking
alone at night so much of a departure from
the social norms of a city whose buildings still
show murals of martyrs killed in urban war?

The more I learned about the underlying
conflict during our stay, the more it seemed
we were drawn to those on the sidelines:
those who, like the women and other mi-
norities given voice by the NIWC. weren't
necessarily participating in the characteristic
sectarianism of Belfast, but were affected by
it nonetheless. One night we found a group
of native Londoners, two Indian girls and
a slight, feminine boy who led us to a hid-
den away hip-hop club after telling us more
than a few doormen had turned them away.
Another night we met a chatty Dublin girl
whose family lived on both sides of the peace
line, then a group of feisty old men playing
Dixieland jazz in a traditional pub. We also
made friends with an employee at our hostel,
an Australian expat mother who had plenty to
say about women's issues in Ireland — "Their
doctors tell them breastfeeding's not healthy!
Can you believe it'.'!"

Tapping into the needs and strengths of
these interesting, everyday people fueled the
NIWC's early success in getting a wide vari-
ety of underrepresented people to seek more
active engagement — or at least understand-
ing — ft-om the current political system in
Northern Ireland. It seemed like an unstop-
pable plan. Yet despite hard work, plenty of
anonymous donors, and seemingK limitless
enthusiasm, the NIWC is barely viable today.
Though the two majority parties, republican
Sinn Fein and loyalist DUP. nov\ have more
female involvement, the NIWC lost much of
its funding and its seats in the Northern Ireland
Assembly (one of the organizations formed
ft-om the Belfast Agreement). Criticism of the
NIWC also continued, from DUP members
and ev en members of the media, although their
harsh and unfounded critiques better serve the
agenda of the NIWC by illu.su^ting how great
the ideological div idc .still spreads.

On one occasion. Newton Emerson
w rote in the Irish .VVu.v, "Men commit almost
all the violence in Northern Ireland, but now
that I'm in my 30s I've noticed something

happening to my contemporaries. Men grow
out of sectarianism. It's a folly of youth —
while the giris go on pursuing their intense,
unspoken vendettas for years and years."
This is exactly the kind of blame game NIWC
members have sought to move past. Without
flinding or representation, their challenges
could be daunting.

Fearon, a founding member of the
NIWC herself writes that though the party
was only meant to be temporary, it has had
significant effects on the culture of Northern
Irish politics at large: "The NIWC's involve-
ment in the negotiations not only facilitated
and promoted women's participation, it also
demonstrated the possibility that civil society
can participate in and influence formal politi-
cal negotiations. It revealed that politics is not
necessarily the exclusive preserve of custom-
ary politicians; groups other than those advo-
cating exclusively a nationalist or exclusively
a unionist perspective also have a place at the
decision-making table."

The emphasis on civil participation re-
veals a flexibility that in itself is a kind of re-
bellion, drawing emphasis away from the po-
litical powers-that-be, and placing it back into
the hands of community leaders, NGOs, and
the everyday members of the private sphere
who welcomed us outsiders so warmly to
Belfast. Without the legitimacy and power of
a formal party, though, might outsiders find
the traditions of binary conflict still too strong
to break?

Protestant Baroness May Blood and
Catholic Bronagh Hinds don't seem to think
so. These two founding NIWC members
spoke on BBC's Women's Hour in December
2004, re-stating the importance of involving
women in the peace process — a role, says
Blood, they've always taken on: "If the true
story of Northern Ireland during the years of
The Troubles ever comes to be truly written,
women will have a large part of that story
to tell. 1 can think of thousands of women
throughout Northern Ireland who, through

the darkest days, held their community to-
gether and worked across the peace line."

"We may have an agreement," adds
Hinds, "but peace gets built bit by bit, and
we have to address things still within our own
communities and across the communities,
even things that we are denying and not ad-
dressing now, and women will have a big role
to play in that."

Further Reading:

Northern Ireland Women's Coalition website,
www.niwc.org

Women s Work: The Stoiy of the Women s Co-
alition, by Kate Fearon, Blackstaff Press.

Caitlin Corrigan is a freelance writer living
in Portland, Maine. She can be reached at
caitlincorrigan@hotmail. com.

FEATURED: SEX AND GENDER MEDIA

m2F: A Journey in Gender Identity DVD

Produced, Directed, and Edited by Dee McLachlan and Patricia Church

Pangaea Films, 52 minutes plus extras, 2003

Distributed by National Film Network, www.nationalfilmnetwork.com

www.m2fgendercom

m2F is an informative and powerful statement on gender dysphoria that might
make some viewers smile in the end.

Produced by two transsexual women and narrated by Jon Faine, this
documentary from Australia and New Zealand — and its companion website
— feature personal stories, professional discussions, and contemporary de-
bates concerning the lives of transgendered, transsexual, intersexual, and
cross- dressing people. It uniquely combines the public and the private, the
personal and the political to create one of the most provocative teaching tools
on the subject of people living the struggles (and pleasures) of gender iden-
tity.

Refusing to define transsexualism and transgenderism, m2F instead
presents a number of personal testimonies, a large amount of new medical
and psychological research, and a cross-cultural history of gender dysphoria
to challenge stereotypes and encourage viewers to keep asking questions.
(The website is especially helpful in this regard because it provides a set of
links to help readers inform their own definitions and responses.)

Former sex worker and nominated best actress, Georgina Beyer, the
world's first known transgendered Member of Parliament (from New Zealand),
leads an impressive list of "ordinary" transsexual and transgendered women
interviewed in this video. Father of three daughters and Naval Captain Sarah
Parry, convener of Transgender Victoria and geneticist and politician Julie
Peters, Human Rights Advocate Roslyn Houston, and others tell their sto-
ries here. Their personal histories are inspirational. They are sometimes very
similar and sometimes very different, challenging all the stereotypes. They
talk of their complex sexuality and evolving professional and familial relations.
They recall regrets as well as hopes. Other women talk of their struggles with
schooling or the medical profession. Some discuss their difficult relationships
with established religion or disastrous counselors from their pasts. Lauren,
Sally, and Jay appear in the studio of their long-running radio program, "Trans-
mission Time" (Joy Melbourne), where they engage in sometimes serious,
sometimes light-hearted discussions of gender identity.

Alongside the personal interviews, the video also features discussions
with professors Milton Diamond, who has published extensively on gender
and sexuality, and Frank Lewins, who has written on the sociology of trans-
sexualism. Other specialized doctors, experts, politicians, activists, and
church officials express a diversity of views on the issues involved with gen-
der and sexuality differences.

Structurally, the feature on the DVD is made up of interviews, talking
heads, a few graphics, and gorgeous shots of Australia and New Zealand.
It takes its time and lets us grow to know the people it profiles. It also offers
its own commentary through the doctors and experts who speak between
the personal stories, generalizing and contextualizing the particulars of the
ordinary voices. It shows us how wonderfully sexual reassignment surgery
has gone for some. It shows us that not everyone who switches genders un-
dergoes sexual reassignment surgery, at least not always completely. It also
shows that some people who have undergone the surgery eventually felt it as
a mistake. It shows women who are in heterosexual relationships or women
who are in homosexual relationships. It lets us hear from parents, friends,
and families that sometimes support and sometimes resent the choices these
women have made. It shows us how complex this issue has been in history,
spotlighting cultures with three, four, seven, and eleven recognized genders.
And, it shows us how these issues continue to evolve today.

And this complexity is what makes the video so keen for me. It does not
show only one side of any of this subject, although, in the end, it is mostly con-
cerned with the happiness of men who want to live as women. The interviews
with an oppositional church voice, gradually accepting parents and siblings,
and one wife whose pain comes across as she explains that her children lost
a father and she lost a husband did more to help me respond to this subject
than any simplistic cheerleading ever could.

Most important of all, then, m2F does not intend to be the final word in
any of these journeys. In fact, it does not even attempt to give a holistic look
at gender dysphoria as it focuses almost exclusively on biological men who
have transitioned one way or another to living as women or to living between
genders. Formerly biological women do not enter the conversation here. We
can hope, though, that their voices are not too far behind and that f2M will
come to our screens very soon.
-Brian Bergen-Aurand

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You Can't Do

That on

Television!

tlie conspicuous aiisonce of aiiortion on TV

Rachel Fudge

Nicole T. Georges

On any given evening, you can turn on the TV and surf past images that not too long ago were considered
too shocking, too politically contentious, or too offensive for national broadcast: interracial couples;
visibly pregnant women; graphic violence; sex; homosexuality; foul language; even dancing, singing ani-
mated feces. Thanks to the rise of reality TV, it's become acceptable to broadcast graphic, gruesome images
of real or realistic medical procedures (rhinoplasties, gastric bypasses, and autopsies) and gross-out bodily
functions (people eating bugs, wonns, and rats; people vomiting). You'll undoubtedly witness characters
both fictional and real dealing with complicated love triangles, sex, birth, death, betrayal, and more moral
conundrums than you can shake your remote at. You might even catch a comedic skit that openly mocks
Jesus and God.

But there's one thing you're almost guaranteed not to see on TV, despite the reality of it being one of
the most common medical procedures in the US: abortion. As many commentators have pointed out, as all
of the old you-can't-do-that-on-television taboos — sexual content, violence, cursing, nudity, homosexu-
ality — have fallen away, abortion is the one hot-button issue that simply remains too hot for TV. Robert
Thompson, Director of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture and Television at Syracuse University,
describes abortion as being "conspicuous by its absence," while in a November 2004 New York Times article
Kate Arthur calls it an "aberration."

While the public and political discourse around issues like gay rights has dramatically increased over the
past 30 years — and subsequently become increasingly visible in popular culture — the discourse around
abortion and reproductive rights has actually narrowed, to the point where it has become more difficult to
introduce the issue of abortion on a TV show than it once was.

rv*

o
o
en

o
o

The Debut of Reproductive Rights

Way back in 1964 — nearly a decade before
Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationally —
a main character on the soap opera Another
World gol pregnant and had what was referred
to as an ■"illegal operation," which left her
sterile. Shortly after the 1973 Roe decision,
Susan Lucci's All My Children character had
soap opera's first legal abortion, with none of
the health or psychosocial aftereffects (steril-
ity, insanity, murder, etc.) that would come to
characterize soap abortions in the future.

But the best-known and most widely
viewed pop culture abortion took place in
1972 on Maude, the All in the Family spi-
noff starring Bea Arthur as the titular liberal
feminist. When 47-year-old Maude, who was
married and had a grown daughter, became
unexpectedly pregnant, she opted for an abor-
tion, which was legal in New York state at the
time. (In a sign of just how different the times
were, Maude's producers cooked up the abor-
tion storyline in response to a challenge from
the group Zero Population Growth, which
was sponsoring a $ 1 0,000 prize for

bombing of an abortion clinic on C&L — to
touch on the issue.

.Moral Dilemmas and False .Alarms

With the rise of the primetime teen soap {Bev-
erly Hills 90210. Party a/Five. Dawson \
Creek) in the mid-'90s, it was inevitable that
sexually active teen and young adult charac-
ters would be confronted with pregnancy, of-
ten in the guise of the Very Special Episode.
Enter the convenient miscarriage. Accord-
ing to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, some
1 3 percent of unwanted pregnancies end in
miscarriage, but on TV that number is much,
much higher The convenient miscarriage
goes something like this: Sympathetic lead
character gets knocked up. SLC agonizes over
what to do, sometimes going so far as to visit
an abortion clinic. SLC decides that although
she believes in a woman's right to choose (her
boyfriend or best friend most likely feels sig-
nificantly different, however), she's going to
keep her baby. Moral dilemma resolved, SLC
spontaneously miscarries; SLC is sad but re-
alizes that in the end she wasn't

appear as hallucinations or ghosts on the show
all the time). And last summer, a two-part
episode of the made-in-Canada teen soap De-
grassi: The \'ext Generation made headlines
when 1 4-year-old lead character Manny gets
pregnant, has an abortion (saying. "I'm just
trying to do the right thing here. For me. For
everyone, I guess"), and doesn't express any
regret afterward. Alas, U.S. viewers won't get
to see the show: The Viacom-owned cable
channel N. which airs Degrassi in the U.S.,
refused to air it.

Today's Four-Letter Word

While Maude's abortion was truly ground-
breaking, it inadvertently galvanized the
anti-choice movement. When CBS reran
the episode six months later, some 40 affili-
ates refused to air it, and national advertisers
shied away from buying ad time, establishing
a pattern that remains in effect today. Even
more significantly, after the episode first aired
anti-abortion leaders took their case to the
Federal Communications Commission, arau-

I had a convenient miscarriaoe!

sitcoms that tackled the issue of population
control.)

In the wake of Roe v. Wade, and as
the basic tenets of second-wave feminism
seeped into the American mainstream in the
'70s and '80s, serious adult-oriented dramas
like Hill St. Blues, St. Elsewhere, and Cag-
ney & Lacey featured abortions every season
or so, as did the occasional .soap opera. In
the real world, the annual number of abor-
tions steadily increased until 1985. when the
abortion rate leveled off. In the late '80s and
early '90s, in the face of a growing number
of legal challenges to Roe, a smattering of
storylines revisited the specter of illegal
abortions, as if to remind us of what was at
stake. On Vietnam War-era drama China
Beach, a young nurse named Holly has an
illegal abortion; the shows moral center,
leading character Colleen McMurphy, is a
staunch Catholic who disapproves of Holly's
actions. Popular shows Thirtysomething and
Cagney <& Lacey addressed the issue more
obliquely, often using flashbacks to provide
some distance from the controversial event
or using an extraordinary eveni like a

really ready to be a mother anyway.
(Alternatively, the pregnancy turns out
to be a false alarm, an even more tidy wrap-
up to the dilemma.)

The convenient miscarriage/false alann
remains the most popular strategy for dodging
abortion, as it allows TV producers to con-
gratulate themselves for tackling the tough
topics without having to take an actual stand.
Recently, however, a handful of show s have
approached the issue head-on, even allow-
ing characters to go through with the abor-
tion. But there is always a measure of conflict
and moral crisis: A 2003 episode of the WB
show Everwood turned the issue around, to
focus on the moral dilemma of the doctor (the
show's lead character) o\er v\ hether he can in
good conscience perfomi an abortion; in the
end, he decides he can't do it. and passes the
case to a colleague, who does the procedure
then heads otTto a priest to confess his sins.

Over on HBO, an episode of 5a Feet
Under depicted teenage lead Claire matter-
of-factly getting an abortion, without endless
agonizing or moral anguish but in a sub-
sequent episode her aborted fetus pays her a
visit, appearing as a cute infant (a plot device
that wasn't all that unusual, as dead people

ing that the fairness doctrine — which man-
dated equal time for opposing views — ought
to co\er not just editorials and public aflairs
but entertainment programming too. Because
Maude had an abortion on CBS. they argued,
they should have the right to reply on CBS.
They lost the case, but won the attention of
the networks. In 1987, the fairness doctrine
itself was struck down; but by that point, it
didn't matter: The networks had established a
pattern of covering their asses by presenting
some semblance of balance as way of diffus-
ing potentially \olatile subjects.

In the landmark episode, Maude ago-
nizes over the decision, but her daughter re-
assures her. speaking in the language of the
growing feminist mo%ement: "When \ou
were young, abortion was a dirty word. It's
not anymore." But more than 30 years later,
as many of the tenets of the women's libera-
tion nunement ha\e become accepted parts
of mainstream .American culture, abortion is
a messy, if not exactly dirty, word.

Back in 1992. when the sitcom .Murphy
Bn)\vn was hailed for its overt feminism and
its titular character found herself unmarried
and unexpectedK pregnant, tlie a-word was
never uttered. Diane English, the show's pro-
ducer, said in a .lunc 1992 Houston ChnmicU

"'was talked (Hit Of It fcynapses!

article, "She would have used the word many
times, but 1 wanted a lot of people to watch,
and certain words have become inflammatory
and get in the way of people hearing what we
wanted her to say." In the end. Brown had the
baby, igniting the ire of Vice President Dan
Quayie and disappointing many feminists.

During the battle for abortion rights that
culminated in the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling,
public declarations were an integral tactic
of the movement. In an effort to overcome
the shame and silence surrounding abortion,
women organized public speakouts, at which
they talked openly and honestly about their
illegal abortions. Abortion is a fact of life,
they asserted, and it affects women of all
colors, class, and religious or political belief
Over the years, however, as the anti-abortion
movement has grown stronger and more or-
ganized, the pro-choice movement has strug-
gled to regain this clarity of speech. Young
women who were bom after Roe continually
assert that abortion is a private decision, a pri-
vate choice that needn't be broadcast — an
attitude that is at once true but also extremely
politically naive.

Veteran TV producer Diane English ac-
knowledged this back in February 2001 , when
she wondered aloud to the New York Times:
"Maybe •.vomen...only had to think about
their Manolo Blahniks for the past eight years
under the Clinton administration, if women
start to wonder if they will the lose the right
to have an abortion, perhaps that attitude may
change during the next four years." Sadly, it
seems like it may take another four years for
women to get scared and angry — enough
to demand that popular culture re-
flect their concerns.

the need to recognize the agony and shame
that accompany abortion. Given this roil-
ing mass of conflicting feelings and poli-
tics, it's no wonder that an hour-long drama
can't get a handle on the issue.

As Syracuse University's Thompson
points out, "A lot of people strongly feel
that there's too much sex on TV, but they
will have no trouble watching an episode
of Blinil Date or Desperate Housewives in
their own home. With abortion, those feel-
ings aren't so easily eliminated in one's TV
viewing. No [networks] want to run the risk
of powerfully offending people on either
side [of the issue]."

As a result, what we see on TV isn't
likely to satisfy anyone, no matter where they
stand. Producers strive for a form of balance
by always ensuring that there's a dissenting
voice of some sort - a friend, relative, or au-
thority figure who ardently asserts their anti-
abortion stance. To pro-choice folks, TV's
take on abortion seems unnecessarily harsh,
moralizing, and punitive. With the exception
of the unaired Degrassi episode, you never
see a character undertake an abortion the way
many v\omen you know do: With the utter
confidence that she's doing the right thing in
a difficult situation. To abortion foes, TV is
littered with anti-fetus propaganda that leans
heavily on the choice angle while refusing to
come out and declare that abortion is murder.
It's a no-win situation.

Out in the real world, feminists and re-
productive-rights activists are working to
rescue the language of moral values from the
radical right, and

es. For now,
it's unlikely that TV
viewers will ever see one of the Desper-
ate Housewives unapologetically opting for a
second-trimester abortion when she realizes
her fetus has profound genetic anomalies, or
one of the lissome gals on The O.C. sporting
an "I had an abortion" baby tee, proclaiming
that ending her pregnancy was the best deci-
sion she ever made.

The trashy, ephemeral landscape of pop
culture may seem like an unimportant front
in the battle for women's rights, given the in-
justices that befall real live women and girls
every day around the world. But as the 2004
election has shown, the U.S. is in the midst
of an all-out culture war, in which public lan-
guage and pop images are playing a crucial
role in shaping the terms of the debate. In
the struggle to capture the hearts and minds
of Americans, the reproductive-rights move-
ment — like the rest of the progressive move-
ment — needs to find new ways to present
its case openly and frankly. Like death and
taxes, abortion is one of the world's certain-
ties — no matter the legal status, there will
always be unintended pregnancies, and there
will always be women who seek to terminate
those pregnancies. After all, of the six mil-
lion pregnancies each year in the U.S., half
are unintended; some 47 percent of those un-
intended pregnancies result in abortion. And
has histoid has shown us, not talking about it
won't make it go away. "iV

Abortion in the Real World

The current state of abortion
on TV reflects both mainstream
American attitudes toward abor-
tion and contemporary feminists'
discord over pro-choice strategies.
While poll after poll indicates
that a majority of Americans sup-
port the upholding of Roe v. Wade, it's also
clear that a majority of Americans have
deep concerns and moral conflicts about
abortion. This ambivalence is reflected in
the pro-choice movement, too, as nation-
ally recognized feminist leaders speak of

"I had a wacky plot twist!

using it in this thorniest of issues to present the
decision to have an abortion as a deeply mor-
al one. To name just a few examples, Jennifer
Baumgardner's new documentary / Had an
Abortion and national news articles by femi-
nist activist Amy Richards and novelist Ayelet
Waldman detail their ditlcult abortion choic-

Racliel Fudge is the senior
Feminist Response to Pop C

editor of Bitch:
'ulture.

o
o

Media and Technology Traditions

Victor Goonetilleke, the president of the Radio Society of
Sri Lanka and a well-known international broadcaster,
wrote these words after working tirelessly on amateur (ham)
radio to help his compatriots who had been left devastated by
the tsunami:

'1 wish 1 could scream aloud and tell people in some high
places that when all else is dead, shortwave is alive."

Over the last decade, there have been many predictions that
shortwave radio — the "old technology"— would soon die out.
However, despite some cuts from various stations and the ad-
vent of Internet audio, shortwave radio is still with us, as it has
been since the 1920s. There are many reasons why this tradi-
tional medium perseveres, and is often preferable to more re-
cent forms of international communication.

One reason is that shortwave broadcasts can be heard over
thousands of miles, and can reach many parts of the world where
the Internet, telephones, cell phones, and AM/FM radio are not
feasible. There are many places where electricity is unavailable or
unaffordablc for most people, and where a simple battery-powered
or crank-driven shortwave radio can be a lifeline to the world.

As many Americans found out after September 11th, or in
such recent disasters as the Asian tsunami, the Internet, phone
service, and AM/FM radio can be crippled or cut off entirely in
times of turmoil. At such times, shortwave radio is a way to keep
connected with the world, and the use of shortwave in amateur
radio (broadcaster to broadcaster transmissions, which also can
be heard on shortwave bands) has also been a lifesaver.

Even in a place where Internet audio is easily available, it
is not always the best way to go. Radio stations that have we-
bcasting can only accommodate a certain number of listeners.
When a lot of people want to hear breaking news or a popular
program, servers can easily get overloaded. Also, Internet au-
dio doesn't always work well on laptop computers, so one is
often better off with the portability of shortwave. Too, a good
shortwave portable is much less expensive than a computer, and
today's shortwave radios are usually easy to use even for those
who are not computer-literate.

Some countries also forbid their citizens to have Internet
access, fax machines, and satellite dishes that would allow
them to hear outside information and viewpoints. The North
Korean government, for example, only allows their citizens to
use fixed-frequency radios and TVs, which only air government
broadcasts. In such places, many people take the risk of secretly

listening to easily hidden shortwave radios so that they can find
out what their governments don't want them to hear.

Another key reason that shortwave continues to be popular
around the world is that it offers a great \ ariety of program-
ming. It allows listeners to hear viewpoints that they might not
be exposed to on domestic radio or TV. Shortwave often lets one
hear breaking news events before it reaches the mainstream me-
dia, and events that are not covered by domestic broadcasters.
The diversity of programs available on shortwave is also a great
way to discover and learn about other cultures through music,
art and history features, and language lessons. Many countries
broadcast in English, but those in other languages can be a way
to impro%e one's language skills, or to keep up with news from
one's homeland. And of course music programs cross language
barriers.

It is usually easier to add shortwave listening to your media
diet if you have some information to get you started. Annually
published books such as Passport to World Baud Radio or the
World Radio TV Handbook present invaluable information about
stations, programs, and frequencies. These books also pro\ide
tips to help beginners learn the ropes of shortwave listening. Due
to changes in propagation conditions, many shortwave stations
use multiple frequencies and change frequencies seasonally, so
it helps to keep on top of the latest information. International
broadcasters such as the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Neth-
erlands, Voice of Russia and many others post updates on their
websites, or one may write to stations for schedules.

There are also a number of Internet mailing lists and Usenet
groups where listeners exchange information. .Additionally, there
are a number of clubs around the world, such as the North .Ameri-
can Shortwa\e Association and the Danish Shortwa\e Club In-
ternational. Both have printed and Internet information on what
people are hearing, and they are also a great \say to connect with
other short\va\e listeners and make friends around the world.

Although shortwa\e radio is nearly a century old, this tra-
ditional method of broadcasting still has a lot to otTer and will
continue on for decades to come, provided there are people who
take advantage of it and keep it alive. As I say at the end of
my ow n weekly shortwave program. "Shortwa\e lives, and the
world's out there for tiic hearing!" ^

Marie Lamb has been involved in shortwave and FM broad-
casting for 15 years, including hostinti and prodiicinii 'he
weekly DXing with Cumhre broadcast via World Harvest Radio
stations WHRl. WHRA. and KWHR and on the World Radio
Network. She lives in Syracuse. Sew York.

Furthur Reading:

I'assport to World Band Radio - www.passband.com
World Radio TV Handbook - ww w.wrth.com
North American Shortwave Association

WW w. anarc.org nasw a
Radio Netherlands Media Network Blog

medianetwork.blogspotcom
I 'ni\ersal Radio, has man\ links to radio stations, clubs, etc.

www.dxing.com
High Frequency Coordination Conference

w w w.hfcc.oru

Mix one part activism with equal parts high technology and
good old word-of-mouth marketing, add a dash of pop cul-
ture and what do you get? The continued success of The Meatrix
and the growing sustainable agriculture movement promoted by
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, or GRACE.
Though only four minutes long, the award-winning Flash anima-
tion film about the ills of factory fanning broke new ground in
disseminating information to millions of people around the world.
To explore this burgeoning form of media — a new tradition of
communication and expression — Clamor went to the source,
GILACE Director of Marketing and Executive Producer of The
Meatrix. Diane Hatz.

What was the inspiration for The Meatrix?

In early 2003, we received an invitation from a design company
called Free Range Graphics to submit a proposal for their first ever
Flash Activism Grant award. Over 50 nonprofit groups submitted
proposals and we were chosen as the winners. Free Range felt that
factory farming was a crucial issue and that the public needed to
be educated about the problems surrounding industnal agriculture.
They also told us that an important reason why they chose us as the
winner was because we offered a positive solution." Rather than
simply tell people there was a problem, we encouraged people to
\ isit the Eat Well Guide, an online directory of sustainable meat,
poultry, dairy, and eggs from sustainable farms, stores, and restau-
rants throughout the US and Canada. It was a project we were pre-
paring to launch and we felt The Meatrix would be a good way to
promote the guide while educating people about factory farming.

We supplied Free Range with as much information as we could
on factory farming, breaking it down as much as possible. When
they read through the material we sent, they were overwhelmed
with all the problems caused by this type of food production. One of
them commented that it was like the Matrix and the idea was bom.

The issues covered in film are serious, yet the tone and style —
from Leo the pig's voice and delivery to the pop culture references
and the use of Flash animation — is funny, even hip. Why did the
producers decide this was an effective way to discuss what s hap-
pened to farming?

All of the issues surrounding factory farming — the massive pol-
lution, the cruelty to workers and animals, the health effects, the
impact on rural communities, the loss of factory farms — are very
depressing issues. And it can be difficult to get people to listen to
your message if what you say is too dark — so what better way to
educate someone about a serious issue than through using humor
and pop culture? The way to reach new audiences is through medi-
ums that they can understand. Because we live in a pop culture so-
ciety, the best way to reach what I call the unconverted — people
who know little or nothing about the issue — is through humor
and pop culture references.

Who did you want to reach with The Meatrix?

I have found a tendency in the nonprofit world to keep messaging
geared toward the already converted, people who already know
about an issue and who are already motivated to try to do some-

thing to change it. My goal is to reach the unconverted — in this
case, people who do not know about factory farming and people
who do not want to give up eating meat. We wanted to reach peo-
ple who might be afraid of the V word (vegetarianism) and let
them know that they don't have to stop eating meat. They simply
need to look at the problems with it and switch to healthier, more
sustainable options.

How has the medium — an online download that can be viewed at
any time and that perpetuates through email forwards — contrib-
uted to its success?

Word-of-mouth advertising has always been the most effective
form of advertising. In the same vein, word-of-mouth education is
the most effective way to disseminate information that people will
believe. If your friend is going to forward you something, you'll
be more interested in reading or seeing it, and you'll take it more
seriously. The Internet has speeded up our ability to get informa-
tion out to the public and to each other, so rather than build slowly.
The Meatrix literally exploded online. Our server even crashed
twice ft-om all the traffic!

In addition, email forwarding can lead to repeat advertising. If
you want to get a message through to someone, the best way to do it
is to repeat it until it sinks in. Because of the nature of the Internet,
many people who viewed the film sent it to everyone in their ad-
dress book. This led to many people receiving it more than once,
which meant the message was being reinforced again and again.
Some people told us they are still getting it in their inbox, and others
ha\ c received it a dozen or more times from different friends.

Is this the beginning of a new t}'pe of media for activism? What are
its strengths and limitations?

Based on the number of organizations contacting Free Range
Graphics these days, wanting to have their own Flash animations
created, 1 would say, yes, this is a new type of media for activism.
The strengths of Flash animafion are that it's visual, colorful, short,
and has the ability to reach people who might not otherwise be open
to the ideas contained within the film. The limitations are that many
people are still not online, there can be download problems for
people on dial up, and it can be expensive for nonprofits w ith little
funding. We won this as an award so we had it made for free, but we
were told it cost upward of S20,000 to produce. (The Flash Activism
Grant is an annual award, so anyone interested in entering should
visit Free Range's website at www.freerangegraphics.com.) "sV

GRACE is currently exploring a possible sequel
to The Meatrix that deals with mad cow disease,
in addition to looking for way^s to combine
activism, music, art, pop culture, and the
Internet to create the next level of advocacy.

For more information:

www.themeatrix.com

www.sustainabletable.org

www.factoryfarm.org

www.eatwellguide.org

www.gracelinks.org

words Brian C. Howard
illustratioi Susie Ghahremani

Many cultures throughout history have had rich traditions of na-
ture and environmental storytelling. In the Great Lakes region
the Ojibwa Native Americans believed that the picturesque Sleeping
Bear Dunes were formed by the bodies of a mother black bear and
her two cubs that had tried to escape a tremendous forest fire. In an
old African tale, a young Nandi boy ingeniously brings rain to his
drought-stricken home by firing an arrow into the air. The 800-year-
old Nigerian folktale "Why the Sky is Far Away" warns of severe con-
sequences if people greedily overexploit natural resources.

Today, in most of the West, we tend to view our world largely
through the lens of the scientific method, rather than through the su-
pernatural and mythical creation stories (although those modes of
thinking are still very much with us). And over the past few centuries,
one of the cornerstones of this process of understanding our world has
become journalism — from investigative muckraking to op-ed com-
mentary and everything in between.

But many observers are questioning if the environment is receiv-
ing short shrift in a media culture that is more corporate conglomerates
than independent voices, more sound bytes and shrieking heads than
in-depth analysis and back-story, more J-Lo and Scott Peterson than
E.O. Wilson and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Where are all the

Environmental Stories?

^0.

Is it the Media's Fault?

Jane Kay of the San Francisco Chronicle,
who has been an environmental journal-
ist since 1979, argues that there are actually
many more environmental stories being writ-
ten now than in past decades, and that there is
a greater understanding of "the whole range
of issues." But some critics say many of those
stories are relegated to specialty publications
like Grist and Orion, and claim there is rea-
son for concern.

In the winter 2002 issue of Nieman Re-
ports, the maga/inc of Harvard's Nieman
Foundation for Journalism, veteran reporter
James Bruggers writes, "Newspapers that
several years ago had four people covering
the environment full time now seem to have
three, or two. Those that had two now have
one."

Interestingly, eight of the top 25 (and
five of the top 10) of Project Censored's
most underrcportcd media stories from 2003
to 2004 were environmental stories includ-
ing: the Bush administration's purging and
manipulation of scientific information "in
order to push forward its pro-business, anti-
environmental agenda;" the potentially lethal
contamination caused by the U.S. military's
use of uranium munitions in the Middle East;
the dangerous and dirty policies promoted by
Vice President Dick Cheney's closed-door en-
ergy bill task force; and enormous proposed
taxpayer hand-outs to the moribund nuclear
industry.

Also in the winter 2002 Nieman Re-
ports, retired New York Times reporter Philip
Shabecoff wrote, "Unlike the assiduity with
which every twist and turn of news about pol-
itics, economics, business, sports and the arts
is given space in the media, environmental
stories have to make a special claim of sig-
nificance to be given consideration for inclu-
sion... Even when they do run, such stories
are often treated negligently." Kay concurs,
saying "1 think that many newspapers don't
put important environmental stories on the
front page." She suggests that one reason may
be because such stories often do not fit into
the traditional model of breaking news.

Peter Phillips, director of Project Cen-
sored and a professor of sociology and media
at Sonoma State University, argues that me-
dia organizations often do not invest the ink
or airtime needed to clearly explain, evaluate,
and repeat all of the intricacies of environ-
mental issues, "which often manifest through
gradual trends. Shabecoff wrote in Nieman
Reports. "The prevailing response to envi-
ronmental stories among some of my editors
was 'What, another story about the end of the
world, Shabecoff.' We carried a story about
the end of the world a month ago."" Phillips
says this perception of staleness of environ-

mental issues can be a particularly high hur-
dle in the independent press, which he says is
often focused on newness.

Beth Parke, the executive director of
Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ),
says the key is for journalists to take the of-
tentimes abstract concepts of environmental
stories and frame them in ways that clearly
affect people's daily lives. "Journalists need
to speak to their audience, and make it seem
like they are giving the infonnation people
need," says Parke. In theory, reporters should
have no trouble doing that, since the environ-
ment obviously affects everyone's well be-
ing, from their personal health and property
values to their children's future.

Parke says some of the most difficult
environmental issues to cover include those
surrounding human population and climate
change. The former has long intersected with
hot-button issues of race and religion, and
the latter involves enormous bodies of highly
nuanced scientific data. Scientists are notori-
ously reluctant to make conclusions, explains
Parke, and they often report disparate, frag-
mented data. Kay adds, "Many environmen-
tal stories reflect uncertainty over science,
and that is just the way it has to be."

Parke also says environmental health
stories can be difficult to present, since they
often deal with extremely minute levels of
chemical exposures, or nebulous combina-
tions of exposures. Such stories can require
understanding of epidemiology, science and
medicine, as well as how to sort through con-
flicting research and the peer review process.
Phillips adds that certain ultra-controversial
topics, such as fluoridation of public water
supplies, the debate about remaining oil re-
serves, and the question of whether chemical
contrails are being spread from experimental
aircraft (as some claim they have seen), are
severely underreported.

Corporate Leviatlians

Phillips sees the increasing corporate con-
solidation of media as an 800-pound gorilla.
"The corporate media monopoly is mostly in
the entertainment business, and is looking for
stories with emotional charges that will scare
us, or titillate us," he explains. "For example,
the Scott Peterson case was a huge story, but
the opportunity cost is a loss of good cover-
age. The main message [of corporate media]
is not to be an activist, it's to shut up and go
shopping."

SEJ's Parke counters that she believes
the public has always craved sensational and
gossip stories, but that it has also always had
a strong desire for "hard news." Media orga-
nizations have to compete in the marketplace,
she agrees, "but they really do believe in their
product," she says.

Phillips argues that the "real culprits" in
environmental issues are often corporations,
and the "revolving door" by which corporate
officials often go to work for government
agencies, and vice versa. "[Environmental]
stories are about decisions made by power-
ful people that impact us, but corporate media
often doesn't cover them," he says. Phillips
points to the 1997 firing by Fox 13 in Tampa,
Florida of reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wil-
son, who claim they were ordered to make
what they considered false statements in cov-
erage of bovine growth hormones after major
advertiser Monsanto complained to station

"The great irony of journalism is
that excellent investigative report-
ing really isn't all that profitable.
First, it involves a great deal of
overhead to pay for research costs.
And even though it may attract
viewers, the commercial media's
buck ultimately stops with adver-
tisers, who may take offense at
a particular report, and nervous
executives, who may cringe in the
face of possible lawsuits."

management. Phillips says the enormous
companies that now control much of the
nation's media are heavily interlocked with
corporate America, through direct ownership,
controlled seats on boards and other relation-
ships.

Kay of the Chronicle says she person-
ally has never experienced any pressure from
her employers to adjust the content of her re-
porting. But she suggests, "Reporters in small
towns can have it tough, especially if there is
not a diversity of economic power" Kay says
she knows of a "very solid reporter" who was
pulled off a beat on California's north coast
because of charges he was "pro-redwood," as
well as similar issues at small town papers in
Arizona mining towns. But in the end, Kay
concludes, "Journalists' mistakes and inabil-
ity to step up happen because we don't have
enough space or reporters, not because the
business department is changing the story."

But in 2000 the Austin Chronicle con-
cluded, "The great irony of journalism is
that excellent investigative reporting really
isn't all that profitable. First, it involves a
great deal of overhead to pay for research
costs. And even though it may attract view-
ers, the commercial media's buck ultimate-
ly stops with advertisers, who may take
offense at a particular report, and nervous

o
o
in

U1
Ul

executives, who may cringe in the face of
possible lawsuits."

Hope for the Craft

Kay says one of the challenges of environ-
mental reporting is that it can be a very ad-
versarial beat. A lot of different sources have
to be juggled, including industry, advocacy
groups, government and the public. Still, she
says, "a lot of people want to get into it, and
reporters like it."

SEJ's Parke says many students are now
specializing in environmental reporting at
journalism schools and other programs. Phil-
lips says good reporters needn't necessarily
have cut their teeth in classrooms, but that it
can be helpful.

SEJ is working to improve the quality,
accuracy and profile of environmental re-
porting through an ever-increasing variety of
programs, according to Parke, from a men-
toring system to annual conferences to eco-
tours for journalists. Intcmcl-based learning
is next on the horizon. She also says media
bosses are very worried about attracting and
keeping their future audiences, particularly
in the age of the Internet, and she points
out that young readers are typically very
interested in environmental information.
Parke would also like to see more interest
and organization from the media-consuming

public, whom she says must ultimately drive
coverage.

Phillips agrees that this is possible, but
adds that legislative action on the federal
level is also necessary. "We will not have
environmental and political reform without
media reform." He hopes fbr an explosion of
independent media, bolstered by government
funding, "ir

Brian C. Howard (hho\\ard(aemagazinc.
com) is Managing Editor of E/The Environ-
mental Magazine (online at www.emagazine.
com). He has also written for Britainis Ergo
Living magazine, Altemet, The Green Guide.
Oceana. Environmental Defense and others

ktCVO^

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Win!

Ken Allen and Don Mcintosh
Todd Alan Breland

Given an anti-union White House, growing employer attacks on unions, and a legal
framework that gives management every advantage, can the union movement survive
into the future? Can it stop its decline as a percentage of the workforce if it continues to oper-
ate as it does now? Sparked by a controversial proposal called "Unite to Win" by the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU), the country's largest union, a nationwide debate is
breaking out within organized labor about how to stop its own extinction.

Ken Allen and Don Mcintosh recently devoted an episode of their show Labor Radio to
discuss the most contentious aspect of the SEIU proposal. Labor Radio is a weekly program
about working people, the labor movement, and organizing broadcast on community radio
station KBOO, 90.7 FM, in Portland, Oregon. Tom Leedham and Leslie Frane were among
the several guests to talk about various ways to restructure the union movement. Tom is the
President of Portland-based Teamster Local 206 and a nationally-known progressive labor
leader who has twice mn for President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters against
conservative Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. Leslie is the Executive Director of SEIU Local 503, also
known as the Oregon Public Employees Union. As a member of the international executive
board of her union, she was privy to discussions within SEIU that led up to that union's chal-
lenge to the labor movement to undertake thorough reform.

This article is based on an abridged version of their discussion. . .

Ul
«0

o
o

This discussion has been reported on quite
extensively in the New York Times and the
Wall Street Journal. It's a debate that, for
some, has been long overdue. Can you tell us,
first, how it came about within SEIU?

Leslie Frane: Within SEIU, we've been
talking for years about the problem of de-
creasing union density, by which we mean
the fact that an ever-declining percent-
age of American workers belong to labor
unions. We've tried within our own union
to reverse this trend by spending more re-
sources on organizing unorganized workers

— on bringing new members into our union

— because we recognize that the power of
our current members depends on numbers.
Our power depends on numbers, so the
more members we have, the stronger we are
as a collective. As a result of putting more
resources into organizing, we've managed
to grow, but not enough to reverse the over-
all national decline in union density, which
has us all very worried about the future of
the labor movement.

Can the union movement survive without dra-
matically changing its structure. Tom?

Tom Lecdham: I think there has to be some
serious changes in structure, but elsewhere as
well. This debate and discussion is long over-
due, and is very necessary, if only to point out
some of the problems that we face.

Leslie. I want to ask you about some of the de-
tails of the proposal that your union is push-
ing. Most American unions have local chap-
ters that are chartered by national bodies that
are headquartered either in DC or New York.
The national bodies are usually referred to as
internationals because they often have some
local chapters in Canada. The International
Brotherhood of Teamsters is one example of
an international. Teamsters Local 206. on
the other hand, located in Portland, is an ex-
ample of a local. Most American unions are
affiliated in this loose, voluntary federation
of unions called the American Federation of
Labor - Congress of Industrial Oiganizations
(AFL-CIO). The AFL-CIO. in turn, has na-
tional, state and local structures which coor-
dinate political efforts, and serve other func-
tions as well. So the crux of this proposal that
SEIU is pushing is for a major restructuring
of the AFL-CIO it.self Am I right'

Leslie: That's right. Within the labor move-
ment, the members are the union. We like to
concentrate as much power as we can at the
local level. We're a democratic institution.
Our members make all of the decisions about
their contracts, about whether or not to strike,
about electing the oHicials that make key de-
cisions in terms of the policies that unions fol-

low. So, because so much of our power is con-
centrated at the local level, for really key ideo-
logical reasons, there has been historical reluc-
tance to give the AFL national authority to make
decisions about merging unions, for example.
Decisions about how locals spend their dues
dollars. I certainly understand that reluctance.
We want to maintain a democratic tradition in
which power is centered in the members.

The problem is that the employers that
we deal with, over the years, have become
much more centralized themselves. In most
labor movements, we no longer deal with
locally-based employers, but rather national
corporations and often multinational corpo-
rations. If we're not structured in a way in
which we can deal with those large national
and multinational corporations as equals
then we can't make progress on behalf of our
members. No small local can confront a mul-
tinational corporation and win. We need to
combine together, and combined together, we
need to be able to make decisions as a group.

So part of the SEIU's plan would con-
centrate more decision-making power into the
hands of the AFL and convert it from a loose
federation into a body where some decisions
are made centrally. We think that's necessary
to confront the challenges that we face which,
as I said, are becoming much more focused
on the national and, in fact, the international
level as well as globalization continues.

There are about 60 or 70 different interna-
tional unions currently in the AFL-CIO.
Probably the most controversial part of the
SEIU proposal is to force the meiger of some
of those international unions. Can you ex-
plain how that would work?

Leslie: Yeah. The SEIU plan is really a blue-
print and a lot of the details are not worked
out, partly because we know that we need to
work those out collectively.

Some multinational corporations bar-
gain separately with as many as eight or nine
different international unions. It is essential-
ly a divide and conquer strategy on the part
of the corporations. It means that, instead of
combining the power of nine international
unions, instead of having all of the mem-
bers of all of the different locals within them
speak as one. we're divided into nine less-
powerful groups. If those unions merged so
that they had joint, coordinated bargaining
— so that the workers had a combined voice,
and if necessary could set a joint strike dead-
line for one contract imagine how much
more powerful we would be.

Now. getting from here to there is com-
plicated. How we do that [in a way which is]
consistent with recognizing the need lor rank-
and-file democracy is something that. I think,
requires a lot more con\ersation and a lot
more discussion, but it just isn't acceptable

to continue along a track where our members
are divided while the bosses are united. That's
a path to the defeat of organized labor.

tVhat s been the reaction of some of the other
unions to the merger idea?

LF: I think that that's been the hardest for
folks, because people are very proud of the
individual traditions and cultures within
their unions. Particularly for smaller unions
— even though they may recognize that as
a small union, frankly, they don't have the
power to make as much progress as they
would like for their members — they are
wary of the idea of supporting a platform that
could mean that that union becomes part of a
bigger union.

I think we all struggle with the ques-
tion of control versus power The smaller
the unions are, the more an individual local
or individual leader can control their destiny.
The larger they are, the more power the\
have, but there also is a diminution of con-
trol. I think that's tough for people to get their
heads around. We recognize that any process
of mergers, again, would have to respect de-
mocracy. We would need to figure out a pro-
cess where any decisions that get made are
not made by individual union leaders in order
to increase their power, but rather in a way
that determines what is best for the particular
group of workers.

We think that healthcare workers are
best represented w hen they are in a union that
represents lots of healthcare workers. Simi-
larly, we think that industrial workers are best
represented by a union that has lots of indus-
trial workers. That is how the union is able to
have a voice in the industrv'. and not just in a
specific workplace.

But how we figure out how to get from
a system that has 60 affiliates, some of which
are just too small to have the type of power
they need to make progress on behalf of their
members — how we get from 60 to w hatev er
smaller number would be appropriate. I think
is going to be a challenge.

Tom. you want to add something at this
paint?

Tom: I wanted to mention that there are a
number of proposals out there from inter-
national unions — about a half-a-do/cn
serious proposals and other comments. 1
think the one main criticism that I have of
all of the proposals is that they really fail
lo mention the importance of union democ-
racy. Obviously we organize to build power
for working people on the job. we believe
in industrial democracy, yet in these pro-
posals, there is virtually no mention of the
need to increase the democracy in our labor
movement.

If I went out and asked an organizer, "What's the biggest barrier to you
successfully organizing those workers?" ... They would name a number
of other problems. For example, that it's almost illegal in this country to
organize. That workers can and do get fired for organizing, even though
the law says that they can't be, there's no penalties. That the boss is
willing to spend millions and millions of dollars on union-busting and
ways to defeat their own workforce. Those are things that are much
more important.

When I speak about that, specifically
I am talking about direct election of union
officers. Not just direct election of local of-
ficers, but direct election of the top inter-
national officials, the decision makers, the
people who are going to be making the deci-
sions about this restructuring. That's missing
from all of these proposals and I think it is a
key element if we are going to strengthen the
labor movement.

Democracy brings accountability to the
labor movement. It gets us away from this
concept that the union is a business. 1 don't
like to compare the trade union movement to
a business model. Democracy has to be a key
element of any restructuring if we intend to
attract new workers. They need to believe in
the organization that they're joining and they
have to know that there is accountability from
the people that make decisions.

Not to play devil's advocate here, hut ... there
wa.s direct election of officials in the Team-
sters union and Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. was elected
instead of Tom Ledham.

Tom: it's not just about who is elected. It's
about being able to hold the leadership ac-
countable. It's about having a real voice in
the affairs of the union and in the goals of the
union. It's about attracting people to demo-
cratic organizations. I don't think it's just
about who wins.

Our union has changed dramatically since
the days prior to when we had direct election
of officers. It will never go back as long as we
have direct elections — as long as we have de-
mocracy in the union regardless of who wins.
It also makes the leaders work harder It's a
much more dynamic union than it was before,
and 1 just don't think it will ever go back to the
days of mob control, although there still are el-
ements of that and we need to continue to work
to change that. I just don't see how you can do
it without democracy. If your union only has
elections at the local level or some sort of a re-
gional level, I don't think that's the real thing.
It's important that you're able to elect top of-
ficers. That's how you get real accountability
and these are the people that are making deci-

sions on proposals like these. They have to be
accountable to the membership.

Part of this SEIU critique, as I see it. is that
unions need to stick to their jurisdictions to
some extent — to organize that first. There are
some unions that will organize many, many
different kinds of workplaces, while maybe
their core jurisdiction remains not fully orga-
nized. I don 't know if trucking is an example
of that for the Teamsters, not to point fingers.
Tom. what do you think?

Tom: No. I think that the Teamsters are the
primary transportation union, although cer-
tainly there are others. But let's step back . . .
one of the key tenets of the SEIU proposal is
this notion of core industry organizing, which
I happen to agree with. If we were starting
from scratch — for example, if we were say-
ing, "let's build a labor movement" — I think
these kinds of proposals, where we say that
unions are going to concentrate on core in-
dustries, would make sense. "Rather than
have 60 unions in the AFL-CIO, we're going
to have 12 unions in the AFL-CIO. We're go-
ing to define these various industries and each
union is going to organize in a specific indus-
try." If we were starting from ground zero and
building a movement, perhaps that would be
the appropriate structure.

But that's not where we are in 2005. I
challenge anyone to truly name the Team-
ster's core industry. When the Teamsters were
unceremoniously booted out of the AFL-CIO
in the late '50s for corruption, the union be-
gan to organize workers of all kinds. We rep-
resent high school principals in Pennsylvania.
We represent the workers at Disney World;
Mickey Mouse is a Teamster We represent
workers in all industries. It's difficult, if not
impossible, to today identify a core industry
for the Teamsters. In Local 206, we represent
everything from truck drivers to nurses.

Many unions have expanded their or-
ganizing horizons over the last decade and it
makes it very difficult to now reverse that pro-
cess and get to these core industries. I think
that's one of the problems in the proposals.
The concept may be a good one, but starting

from where we are, I think it's a nonstarter.

If I could just speak to the merger aspect,
as well, because that is the most controver-
sial of the various proposals. I've looked at
three merger agreements in the past couple of
weeks and I'll tell you, they are all negoti-
ated with the various parties always bargain-
ing in their own self-interest. In these merger
agreements, competing unions are merging
together and they end up negotiating for a tre-
mendous amount of autonomy, so you really
end up in the same situation. It doesn't solve
the problem. That's just one of the realities of
the proposal.

Leslie: I agree with Tom that the devil is in the
details. But in tenns of the question of what
do members want ... I think for most mem-
bers, they don't care a lot about the initials of
the name of their union. What they want is to
be in a union where they have the maximum
power in shaping their wages, benefits, and
working conditions — in which they have the
most ability to influence government poli-
cies that affect their working lives and their
communities — and which give them the
strongest voice in detcnnining the day-to-day
working conditions on their jobs. That means
that they want to be in the union that has the
most power to affect their industry. The way
that we get there is by having industrially-
concentrated unions.

I often speak in terms of healthcare
workers, because that's what I know best. I
think that most workers would say that, if
you are a healthcare worker, being in one
big healthcare workers union is best. For
example. Catholic Healthcare West, a big
hospital chain that has hospitals all over the
west ... if all their employees from Califor-
nia to Washington were represented by the
same union, that means power. I think that
our members would find that concept much
more important than, "Is the name of my
union, or the initials after the local number,
the same as they used to be?" What mem-
bers want is power. What members want is
a stronger voice. They're open to ideas of
how do we get from here to there, although 1
don't underestimate the challenge of finding

o
o

a path that respects rank-and-file democracy
and that respects all of the competing inter-
ests that we bring to the table.

Tom: One of the criticisms that you often
hear is that AFL-CiO is a loose confederation
of unions. Perhaps it's a loose confederation
because that's the best they could do. 1 don't
want to sound like I'm defending the current
structure of the AFL-CIO, because I agree
with the problems that have been outlined
in most of the proposals. I'm just not sure I
agree with the solutions.

I don't think we should be looking at
business plans. Some people say, "Unions.
Well, it's just a business." It's not a business.
It's a social movement. There are aspects of
it that are similar to a business, but it's not
a business. If we made decisions based on a
business model, we'd be in worse shape than
we are now.

I think we can be successful and I think
the debate and the discussion are extremely
useful, but only to the extent that working
people — union members — are involved in
the debate and the discussion and the decision
making. If this just happens on high, in the
upper strata of union officers in Washington.
DC, 1 don't think it makes the labor move-
ment any more relevant to working people.
That's what we really need to be concentrat-
ing on here.

If 1 went out and asked an organizer in
any of these unions that is out there in the

to work them out, many of them are just ad-
justments to the rules of the AFL-CIO itself,
but how can you talk about workers having a
voice on the job when you're talking about
forced mergers of those workers into larger
organizations, where you ha\e to say they
have less of a voice. I would hope that, in this
discussion, there would be a way for working
people, rank-and-file union members, to have
a serious say in the decisions that are made.

Leslie. I wanted to give you a chance to talk
about some of the other elements of the SEIU
proposal. There are some that I think people
would find particularly compelling, for exam-
ple, the idea that the labor movement should
back social causes like universal healthcare.

Leslie: When our members go to bargain con-
tracts these days, almost across the board the
biggest problem is the rising costs of health-
care. Although we continue to fight that issue
at the bargaining table, we think that the long-
term solution is changing healthcare policy so
that the United States can have quality health-
care on the national level. If the labor move-
ment doesn't take the lead in fighting for that,
we're afraid that it will be a very long wait.

Some of the other principles in the pro-
posal involve fighting what we call the Wal-
Marting of jobs, where more and more living
wage jobs have been eliminated because of
globalization and other conscious policies of,
particularly, the Bush administration. We see

think that if we want to have a stronger po-
litical presence, if we want to a%oid George
Bush being replaced by somebody of his ilk.
then we need to build a stronger union move-
ment presence in the Midwest and the South,
so part of the platform is about transforming
the union mo\ement so that we put more re-
sources into organizing in the Midwest and
the South.

So. the proposal is about restructuring so that
industrial workers are in the industrial union
and healthcare workers are in the healthcare
union, .so that we can take on employers from
a position that is united, rather than divided
into many individual unions. It's about build-
ing political power through our locals, but
also by expanding into parts of the country
where the labor movement is weak. .And it's
also about being actively involved in policy
debates that affect our ability to bargain
good contracts, like the healthcare issue, and
policy debates that promote the creation of
low-wage jobs and the eradication of family-
wage jobs.

The proposals by SEIU and a number of
other international unions can be found online
at WMM.unitctowin.oig. The site also has a lively
blog feature that encourages people to write in
with their comments. This is going to be a long
discussion. In my opinion, the best thing that
can happen for the labor movement is to make
needed changes, but stay united, "it

... how can you talk about workers having a voice on the
job when you're talking about forced mergers of those
workers into larger organizations, where you have to
say they have less of a voice. I would hope that, in this
discussion, there would be a way for working people,
rank-and-file union members, to have a serious say in
the decisions that are made.

o
o

Street trying to organize workers and trying
to improve their lives on the job, "What's the
biggest barrier to you successfully organiz-
ing those workers?" I doubt that even one
out of 10 would say it's the structure of the
AFL-CIO. They would name a number of
other problems. For example, that it's almost
illegal in this country to organize. That work-
ers can and do get fired for organizing, even
though the law says that they can't be. there's
no penalties. That the boss is willing to spend
millions and millions of dollars on union-
busting and ways to defeat their own vsork-
force. Those are things that arc much more
important.

A number of these issues that are prob-
lems with the AFL-CIO ... I really believe
that if people sit down in good faith and try

the jobs that replace the ones that are lost are
often minimum wage jobs that carry few ben-
efits. We think that the labor mo\ement has
to be actively involved in the debate on er the
government policies that ine\itably contrib-
uted to that Wal-Marting of jobs.

The "Unite to Win" platfomi also lays a
lot of focus on politics. Much of the platform
was written before the November election.
We released it after the election, primariK
because we didn't want to distract from the
nationwide labor union effort to elect John
Kerry. But one of the interesting things that
the platform observes is that the split between
the red and the blue states conforms almost
one hundred percent to the split between
states where there is a vibrant union move-
ment and states that are "riuhi to work." We

Ken Allen is the E.xeculive Director of .-iF-
SCME Local 75 in Portland. Don Mcintosh
is .Associate Editor at the Northwest Labor
Press, a union newspaper read by 60.000
workers in the Portland area.

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Past, Present, and Future

The World Social Forum began in Porto Allegre, Brazil four years ago
as a radical response to the neoliberal economics and practices of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and as a direct
challenge to the World Economic Forum held at the same time each
year in Davos, Switzerland. The 5"' World Social Forum was held
again this January.

Since 2001. the phenomena of the World Social Forum has rapidly
spread and mutated into regional, national, and sub-national Forums.
The ideological roots of the WSF go back at least to Seattle in 1 999
and Chiapas in 1994, but they also echo the agenda of the non-aligned
nations movement in the mid-20th century. Since its inception, the
Forum has been a stage for calls from global civil society and activists
for radical change on a broad spectrum of issues facing humanity. The
question illuminated by the WSF is this: can the combined efforts of
peoples' movements, NGOs, and global civil society stop the growing
assault on basic justice and equality coming from multinationals and
militarist governments?

Kent L. Klaudt

Andy Lin

What does it mean to be anti-globalization?

While in the eyes of the mainstream press the
anti-globalization movement is just a con-
vergence of black bloc'ers throwing rocks at
WTO meetings, on the ground in Porto Al-
legre it looks a lot different. Just about every-
one now knows that our planet is "globalizing"
in some sense of the world, and has been, at
least economically, since the rise of capitalism
in the early 16th century. The trend toward
planetary interconnectedness is not slowing or
stopping. So the real question is not. "are we
for or against globalization." but rather, "what
type of globalization are we for?"

One model talked about is that of "al-
ter-globalization," re-organizing an interre-
lated planetary economy in a way that is just,
sustainable, and diverse. It is a call for fair
trade, not free trade; for corporate account-
ability, not corporate rule; for sustainable
growth, not growth at any price. Instead of

o
o
ui

Oi
W

letting transnational corporations extract prof-
its from the global South while privatizing
every molecule of every substance on earth
(including the DNA of indigenous people),
"altcr-globalization" operates in a democratic
way that values public and common owner-
ship of resources, individual dignity, and cul-
tural diversity.

The movement thus encompasses a wide
array of issues: food and water rights, public
control of the commons, biopiracy, military/
corporate control of biotech and genomics
research, biodiversity, racism and ethnic vio-
lence, communalism and fascism, refugees,
corporate personhood and accountability, the
right to information and knowledge, media
concentration, women's status in the global
economy, indigenous peoples" rights, anti-
imperialist organizing, transparency in gover-
nance, international public health, education,
and more.

The staggering breadth of issues in play
seems much more comprehensible once the
interconnectedness of these issues is pieced
together And part of the message of this 5""
Forum is that we need to start thinking more
about the worldwide interconnectedness of
these struggles.

What happens at the WSF?

The Forum is certainly a pep rally for the left
— a much-needed psychological and emo-
tional shot in the arm for anyone who spends
the rest of the year fighting hard battles
against oppression and injustice. But there's
a lot more education, analysis, networking,
and strategizing being done down here than
there is simple preaching to the choir.

The primary events at the Forum are
panels and seminars organized thematically

on a wide variety of topics. The topical ter-
rain is divided into 1 1 broad themes, each as
a sort of village-within-a-village with its own
cluster of meeting rooms, food services, stalls
and information booths, and internet serv ices.
Some of the topical terrains are, for example:
"counter-hegemonic communications prac-
tices and rights," "demilitarization and strug-
gle against war, free trade and debt," "human
rights and dignity," "defending diversity, plu-
ralities and identities," "autonomous thought,
re-appropriation and socialization of know 1-
cdge." and so on.

.Ml events are self-organized this year,
and there are no central panels presented by
the host committee. According to activist and
public intellectual Waldon Bello, of Focus on
the Global South, this reflects a "conscious
effort to build a space that is horizontal and
open, and which encourages cross-fertiliza-
tion across political, sectoral, geographic,
cultural, and language barriers."

The event is held on a few square miles
of the waterfront in downtown Porto Allegre,
combining a tent city, an existing cultural
center, and a row of warehouses along the
w ater to house most of what happens. Each
day, there are three time blocks of several
hours each, in which meetings and programs
are held according to topical terrain, result-
ing in dozens of programs being held simul-
taneously at any given moment during the
six-day event. In addition to this, there is a
concurrent and vibrant cultural program in-
cluding an international film festival, loads
of visual art. performance, and theatre, and
music day and night. And "the best aspect
of the Forum was the informal spaces where
international dialogue flourished." accord-
ing to ibrahim abdul-matin. a member of the
All Youth of Color delegation representing

the United States, North American Action in
Solidarity (NAS).

In the evenings, when most of the NGO
folks go back to their hotels, the Youth Camp,
filling a huge park on the WSF grounds,
comes alive with music blasting from a dozen
different stages — some nights until 5 a.m. A
lot of locals come to the Forum grounds every
night to listen to music, hang out, socialize,
eat. drink, and walk around.

WSF: Stage or Actor?

The salient debate that emerges from this
year's Forum is: What is the role of the WSF
in global politics, and is it an actor or merely
a stage? For the past five years, the WSF has
been solely a stage, and has consciously re-
fused to adopt any outward platform or take
any political action as an entity. The thinking
until now has been that the purpose of the Fo-
rum is to provide open space for organizing,
networking, and dissemination of knowledge
and strategies.

Many are starting to question this ap-
proach, especially now. in light of the con-
tinued war and occupation in Iraq. Judy An-
cel of the Cross Border Network for Justice
and Solidarity, from Kansas City, Missouri,
feels that. "We desperately need some united
voice proposing alternatives to the current
economic models. Whether the WSF could
be useful for more than presenting such
ideas, however, is doubtful. It's too big and
chaotic."

There is definitely some thinking that
the Forum ought to pick up the tradition of
the International, which dates back to Marx
and Bakunin and the 1 860s. To this end. Bra-
zilian French writer Michael Lowy has sug-
gested that the WSF should ideally emerge

o
o

jkn-f left i group retucns from heating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speak at an mst settlement ot reclaimed land,
jtH^ne nght the aftermath of a bush eihgy burned to the ground

Two amencans on opening day of the forum

as a kind of "Fifth International," which se-
lectively adopts the best elements of the pre-
vious four internationals. This implies that
some type of Comintern or vanguard would
be created to direct the outward political ac-
tivities of the Forum.

Needless to say, there are many, and not
just anarchists and moderate NGOs, who fear
this idea. For example, Jai Sen, an activist
and researcher based in New Delhi, states his
belief that, "This ambiguity of identity and
role has been [the Forum's] strength, and a
secret of its magic."

A somewhat different, yet related de-
bate, is developing as to whether the WSF
is strictly anti-capitalist or not. Should the
Forum remain a big tent that includes the
many liberals, moderates, and NGOs who are
willing to engage with the current economic
system and its institutions and attempt to
humanize capitalism, rather than abolish it?
Similarly, should the Forum tolerate those
working within social democracy through
their participalion in left-center political par-
ties, or is this an unacceptable capitulation to
the enemy?

Certainly these sorts of questions come
with very difficult exercises in ethical and
strategic line-drawing, and there will be live-
ly debate within and without the WSF Inter-
national Committee and Secretariat on these
subjects for some time to come.

The Future of the Forum, Africa and Be-
yond

The WSF is a massive and still growing phe-
nomenon. At the first Forum, 25,000 partici-
pants showed up in Porto Allegre. By the time
the WSF moved to Mumbai for its 2004 incar-
nation, 85,000 were in attendance. This year,
in Porto Allegre, there were 1 55,000 people,
perhaps 80% of whom are Brazilian — 35,000
of this number were in the Youth Camp.
There was a brigade of 6,880 translators to
provide simultaneous radio translation in the
Forum's four official languages this year, Por-
tuguese, English, Spanish, and French. Peo-
ple from 135 countries participated and were
involved in 2,500 panels, seminars and other
activities. There were 2,800 volunteers work-
ing at the infi^structure level.

Rather than carry on year after year
with the Porto Allegre Mumbai model, the
WSF has decided to split into three regional
blocs in 2006. There will be forums in Latin
America, Africa, and Asia. The likely host
countries for the first two regions are Venezu-
ela and Morocco. The Asian host has not yet
been selected.

In 2007, the Forum will revert to the
previous model, and a unified World Social
Forum will be held somewhere in Africa.
Again, the host country has not been deter-
mined. This year saw many delegates from

the African Social Forum organization in Por-
to Allegre planning for the next several years
as more emphasis will shift to Africa and its
common and unique issues in globalization.

Conclusion

The global justice movement, best summarized
and expressed to date on the stage of the WSF,
is a force of thousands of dedicated activists
working to completely re-envision and re-di-
rect the planet's current negative trajectory of
globalization. What is important to recognize
is that for each of the 155,000 activists here,
there are dozens more allies and actors in each
of our cities, towns, townships, villages, and
farms, who are becoming more and more con-
scious of the planetary crossroads we face, and
who have decided that another world is pos-
sible. With or without the WSF as a continued
stage, actor, movement, or tradition, millions
of people have already decided to fight to
make another world a reality. "^

Kent Klaitdt is a lawyer living in San Francisco.

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[PRINT]

All Hands On: a The2ndHand Reader

Todd Dills, ed.

Elephant Rock Books, 2004

www.the2ndhand.com

While this best-of collection of The2ndHand might not
have the manifesto-like feel of their free broadside,
published for the past four years in Chicago; the 248 pages
you get here provide some much needed satisfaction. A
broadside is cheap and easy, and has helped spread
The2ndHand to as many people as possible, but I took
to this book with appropriate zeal as my first chance to
spend a good chunk of time with The2ndHand writers.
With the tagline "literate apes unite!" and featuring
writers such as Todd Dills, Joe Meno, Elizabeth Crane,
and Susannah Felts, among dozens of others, you know
this has to be good.

The familiar mix of utter absurdity and comical situations
that are couched in stones are just real enough that you
feel the tug of the everyday and this is intimate without
being overbeanng. You recognize yourself/fnends/lover/
family here, but you wonder if you're supposed to In
Brian Costello's "The Night I Told My Parents the Taith,"
a perfect coming-out story is set up. The narrator is
sixteen, at dinner with his parents, knowing he has to tell
them. In fact, it is so perfect that you wonder if perhaps
a run of the mill personal essay has somehow slipped

through. Until he tells his parents that he is, in fact, an
'Annoying Asshole." The dad worries that his son will
move to an annoying asshole neighborhood like River
North, and attend Dave Matthews Band Concerts.

In the "Itinerary" section, there are hour-by-hour
run-downs of days in the life' which alternate between
hilanous and painful. Everything is written with a smirk,
and while that should by all rights lead to a frustrating
reading expenence, the writing never crosses over into
smug condescension. These writers can tell a good
story, and like Ira Glass and David Sedaris, the over-
the-top cleverness is peculiarty Chicago in tone — as
though these writers are collectively making up for being
from the "third city" situated in the flyover zone by being
maddeningly precocious. The2ndHand might be a true
heartbreaking work of staggering genius, and unlike
McSweeney's. you might be able to afford this one.
-Charlotte Loftus

Belltown Paradise/
Making Their Own Plans

A double book edited by In the Field
www.inthefield.info/

Brett Bloom and Ava Bromberg work together as "In The
Field," collaborafing on public art projects and publications
about the politics, realifies, and potential of public
space. Their most recent project is this two-in-one book
— a beautifully designed quick-read that stands out as a
unique survey of citizen-initiated space reclamation, public

art, and experimental urban planning. Belltown Paradise
focuses on the story of a changing urban neighborhood in
Seattle and the artists and activists who live and work there
while discussing the history of a community garden called
the "p-patch," local sustainable architecture initiatives, and
artistic interventions into the climate of gentrification and
the need for public green space.

The other part of this project, Making Their Own Plans,
shares stories of hope and stmggle from across the U.S.
and Europe. This book functions more like a tool-kit,
collecting inspiring and often-instructional infonnation about
group process and organizational structure of various self-
organized activist initiatives. City Repair, a broad-based
coalition from Portland, documents their intersection take-
over projects called "intersection repairs" and other urban
citizen-inifiated public space creation, known as "place
making." "Pari( Fiction," based in Hamburg (Germany),
discusses the decade-long struggle to preserve and
develop a park in the low-income St. Paul neighborhood.
This initiative has managed to achieve concrete results,
like getting the city to transfer its development budget
into a neighborhood bank account for resident-controlled
process and decision-making. They have also opened up
a space for neighborhood solidanty even when matenal-
change was caught up in city bureaucracy, by creating a
space for Utopian and experimental visualization of what
could/might/should be built or created in the park and lot
near the harbor. And finally, the Chicago based "Resource
Center" tells of their 30-year long history of experiments
with recycling and urban agriculture. Artist Dan Peterman

o
o

highlights a resource-center project from the 80's on
Chicago's Southside where VW buses buned in soil and
manure from police-mounted horses were turned into
temporary self-heating housing for the neighborhood's
homeless population

This project's significance lies in its many potential
audiences, including policy-making professionals, grassroots
activists, interventionist artists on to urban planning students
and teachers The stories, and the groupa who tell them,
detail the cnsis of public space and the possibilities of self-
organized avil soaety to take the urban spaces we have
inhented and make them taily ours.
■Daniel Tucker

Biodiesel:

Growing a New Energy Economy

Greg Pahl

Chelsea Green, 2005

www.chelseagreen.com

We live in a global economy where goods are routinely
shipped to distant markets thanks to cheap fossil fuels.
But Greg Pahl suggests that a different world could be
right around the corner as our fossil fuel production
eventually peaks and demand in developing nations
such as China increases. And in his new book Biodiesel,
Pahl argues that while not a silver bullet, plant based
fuels could be an important part of a more diverse and
decentralized energy future

The term biodiesel refers to fuels that are made from
vegetable oils such as soybean oil, and are slightly
altered to power diesel engines in cars, taicks, buses,
and farm equipment. The good news about biodiesel is
that it IS a totally renewable plant based fuel that can be
made by virtually anyone. But it is not expected to ever be
able to completely replace fossil fuels. Experts estimate
that at peak production there might be enough biodiesel
to supply 10% of the fuel used by diesel vehicles.

Pahl starts his book by introducing Rudolph Diesel,
inventor of the diesel engine. Diesel suggested back in
1912 that 'the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may
become in the course of time as important as petroleum".
And Pahl goes on to discuss how the vanous energy crises
of the 1 970's helped spur interest in developing renewable
energy sources including Biodiesel Researchers
eventually discovered that straight vegetable oil would min
a diesel engine within six months But a modified process
that involved adding methanol was able to produce a safe
and reliable product.

Biodiesel goes on to look at cun-ent developments in
the biodiesel industry around the world. At the moment
European nations such as France and Germany are
the leading producers thanks in part to government
subsidies and incentives The U.S has 300 biodiesel
pumping stations as of 2004, many of them located in
the Midwest And a number of U.S municipalities have
begun to use biodiesel fuel for things like school buses
and public transit vehicles. The city of Berkeley. California
for example now has 90% of its 200 city owned vehicles

running on biodiesel fuel Pahl notes that It is possible
to run a vehicle on straight veggie oil by purchasing a
conversion kit which costs between $300-$ 1500.

Biodiesel discusses the history and some technical
aspects of plant based fuels but it is definitely not a how-
to manual for producing biodiesel or convertng a vehicle.
Instead the focus is much more on the economic and public
policy aspects of this emerging industry. People who are
interested in staying informed about recent developments
in the biodiesel industry both in the U.S and around the
wortd should pick up a copy of this book.
■Brad Johnson

iCOCHABAMBA!

Water War m Bolivia

By Oscar Olivera (in collaboration with Tom Lewis)

South End Press, 2005

www.southendpress.org

One of the more telling scenes from the 2004 documentary
The Corporation concerned the role of Bechtel in
"providing" water to the people of Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Included in the provisions of its contract (which privatized
one of the most basic necessities of life) was a stipulation
prohibiting citizens from collecting rainwater — taking
corporate control of even the water that fell from the sky.
In jCochabamba!. labor leader Oscar Olivera, co-author
and translator Tom Lewis, and additional contnbutors
Luis Sanchez-Gomez, Alvaro Garcia Linera, and Raquel
Gutierrez-Aguilar, provide the background to the Water
War and examine how Cochabamba can serve as a
model for organizing citizens in future struggles against
globalization.

iCochabamba! is the story of the people's struggle
to reclaim control over their water and a story of self-
determination and standing up to the imposition of
neoliberalism and "market discipline." In fact, the
Cochabambinos' success in forcing Bechtel's cancellation
of its 40-year contract is one of the first significant
victories in the fight against corporate globalization
(As "one of the ten most active water pnvatization firms
in the worid," according to Public Citizen, Bechtel has
sued the Bolivian government for $25 million claiming
loss of potential profits). Their situation is, unfortunately,
not unusual As a condition of refinancing loans, the
World Bank demands of "developing" countnes (such as
Bolivia) the privatization of public resources and requires
what IS termed "full cost recovery " This means that the
rates charged to consumers must cover all of the water
systems costs (maintenance, distnbution, infrastructure,
etc.) — in the case of Cochabamba, it also meant that
figured Into the contract was a guaranteed 16% rate of
return (i.e., profit).

The situation was troubling to the people of
Cochabamba on several levels The rates charged under
pnvate control made access to safe, potable water more
difficult for the poor and increased the likelihood of water-
borne illnesses Many natives and traditional peoples
considered water sacred, thus Bechtel's actions were

an arrogant slap in the face to indigenous populations.
Additionally, payments were "dollanzed" meaning
that, not required to be made in US. dollars, but if the
Bolivian cun-ency decreased in value against the dollar
(which IMF policies all but guarantee), payments would
be increased accordingly As Oscar Olivera wntes: "It
was very hard for people because they did not have
the money. As a result, many people simply refused to
pay " Not only did they not pay their bills, thousands of
citizens occupied the plaza of La Paz for days on end —
endunng tear gas. harassment, even the shooting death
of Victor Hugo Daza. Daza's assassin, a graduate of the
notonous Ft. Benning, Georgia-based terrorist training
camp, the US School of the Amencas. was "acquitted
of any wrongdoing by a military court and reinstated in
his post."

The Water War could also serve as a cautionary tale
about what we allow corporations to get away with.
Bechtel was awarded a $1 03 billion dollar contract by
the US government to rehabilitate and rebuild crucial
parts of the infrastructure in Iraq — including water and
waste management To date, according to a report by
Public Citizen, Bechtel has been in violation of both the
letter (as well as the spmt) of the contract, resulfing in a
drastic increase in water-related illness. Citing "secunty"
issues, the public has been left in the dark on most of this
— but public monies keep flowing to Bechtel, including
the built-in 16% rate of return for shareholders.

Both in Bolivia and Iraq, we witness yet another
instance in a long and sordid history of corporations
socializing nsk and pnvatizing profits. When the desire
for profits supercedes people's nghts to the basic
necessities of life, or choices as to how to administer
their own resources, then the legitimacy of corporate
governance must be senously questioned Though
at times scattered, jCochabamba' is nevertheless an
inspinng portrait of the importance in taking direct action,
holding corporations accountable, and if need tie, telling
them to get the hell out.
-Edward Burch

Crude: The Story Of Oil

Soma Shah

Seven Stones Press. 2004

www.sevenstones.com

In the midst of a Nigenan wasteland, with its bulldozed
groves, muri<y swamps, and dull smoke nding the tropical
air, the oil is beautiful It's sweet and unencumbered, low
in sulfur, compnsed of few impunties A find that Big Oil
appreciates and aggressively claims: Shell spent $14
billion on its exploration in Nigena — reportedly its largest
venture outside North Amenca, orchestrated with the
help of the Nigenan government Soon, that govemment
would become embroiled in a violent debacle with
the people of the Niger delta who were protesting the
ecological havoc that ensued from the oil extraction

Its nan^tives like this that charge Soma Shahs
Crude The Story ol Oil. an investigative tour that begins

at petro-genesis: the unlikely synergy of subteaanean
events that turn organic sediment into oil-nch rock. She
explains why the Middle East became a geologic high roller,
in a language that holds throughout the book, devising
the earth as a game board of oil. Social history unfolds
alongside the science: in the 1850s, crude appeared in
Pennsylvania where locals used it to ward off influenza. Oil
quickly overshadowed coal vtfith its far-reaching versatility
from kerosene to synthetics, and powered an American
love affair with the endless, open road.

The final sections are politically climactic. Shah notes
Saddam Hussein's intentions in February 2003 to oust
Westemers from his revised oil production plans and the
Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq one month later
The chapter, "Challengers Old and New," examines
energy altematives, and Shah gives an accessible
critique of the limitations and possibilities inherent in solar
power, ethanol and hydrogen fuel cells, the last of which
President Bush strongly advocated in conjunction with
mining more coal. Says the head of West Virginia's Coal
Association: Bush's advocacy was "payback" for the heft
the coal industry threw into his presidential campaign.

Though Shah could have easily wntten a laundry list on
the disruptions Big Oil and its government cohorts continue
to wreak, this volume is more than that - it is an insightful
missive to her readers to understand their consumptive
reality. In her steady tone, she presents the danger signs:
extinctions resulting from human-induced climate change,
tribes losing land to oil ventures and industry lobbying for
access to protected lands. She conflates these with the
bolder moves of anti-oil activists and the quieter actions of
ordinary people who make earth-minded choices in their
transportation and shelter The author has faith in global
epiphanies taking place "before the drills, shovels, and
clouds of carbon dioxide render earth uninhabitable." All
is not lost — yet. When she looks into a sci-fi future where
humankind interfaces with the next great epoch of cojde,
the scene shows moment that Shah eloquently challenges
us to rise to — right here and now,
-Michelle Humphrey

Fish Piss Vol. 3 No. 1

www,fishpiss.com

This Canadian zine is thick and crammed to the gills
with 160 pages of articles, reviews, artwork, poetry, and
comics. A lot of the focus is on vinyl and running a record
label. There is also an overview of the current state of
the world, divided into regions, how-to art stuff, and a
lot of rants against the US government. It's newspnnt
pages and ornery spint reminded me of Maximum Rock
n Roll, but it's more book-smart than that zine, and is not
focused as much on punk.

Fish Piss IS largely comprised of submissions, so
there is a collaborative feel to it that I really liked. The
quality of the art and wnting varied, but most of it was
quite good, and it was really cool to see all these different
people's ideas come together. Highly recommended!
■Patnck Sean Taylor

Footnote: A Zine about Me(n)

Email: footnote@fanboyz.com

Created by four men who set out to examine and take
responsibility for their own gender histones and anti-sexist
education. Footnote is the result of an intense process of
self-reflective writing, discussion, and cntical feedback. The
zine focuses on these four men's personal experiences
and strategies for change; included are essays about
relationships, body image, sexuality, and menstrual blood.
The personal nature of the writing is what makes the zine
so powerful: Not relying solely on the more comfortable
worid of abstract political theory, they attempt the more
difficult stnjggle of transparently engaging with their own
histones. Footnoted feedback, cntiques, and questions
from participants and others involved in their community
are included throughout the zine.

An important note: One of the creators shared with
me that another of the four men subsequently engaged
in very destructive behavior against women in their
community. Given this, he considers the process a failure,
but believes that much of the content is still useful.

I would argue that both the process and the content
hold significant potential for others to use and incorporate
into their own work in these areas.
-Debbie Rasmussen

Let Fury Have the Hour

Antonio D'Ambrosio
Nation Books, 2004
www.nationbooks.org

It's easy to forget the threat that punk was. When
celebrities sport studded belts and punk songs serve as
the soundtrack to car commercials, "punk" seems nothing
more than a marketing tool to shift more product. So you
cant blame those of us too young to have lived through
the Immaculate Conception of 70s punk for doubting that
it ever meant anything besides clothing and records. Yet in
1976, the sound: that ugly abrasive, bastardization of rock,
so alienating and caustic it could do nothing but disgust its
detractors and inspire its devotees, was the drummer boy
of a new anmy marching to battle. The safety pins, ripped
clothing spray-painted with phrases and yes, the studded
belts, served as the uniforms of this bngade.

As Let Fury Have the Hour suggests, two bands led
this "revolution," Both represented the split personality
of 70s punk: The Sex Pistols as the nihilist negation of
everything that came before and The Clash as positive
progressives of what was to come. With this in mind,
editor Antonio D'Ambrosio posits some big questions: 28
years after the punk explosion, what is the significance of
that Big Bang? Was there ever a tangible "movement"?
And what is the legacy of punk paladin Joe Strummer?

D'Ambrosio offers a book's worth of reasons why
Strummer was "the quintessential rude boy, punker,
rebel musician, artist and activist." Spanning three
decades. Let Fury Have the Hour boasts a formidable
an-ay of insights into the worid of Joe Stnjmmer and The

Clash. The various articles, interviews, ravings and rants
paint a colorful portrait of the band, the man, the myth, the
legend. To the book's aedit, not all of the writings paint
him in the best of lights. The critiques inject a healthy dose
of balance. See for instance the article by Amy Phillips
exploring differing feminine responses to the band and
Stnjmmer, or D'Ambrosio's analysis of the "myopia" of
eariy anti-racist punks that lionized The Clash,

As much of the book broadcasts throughout. The
Clash exploded the sonic and stylistic boundaries of punk.
Listen to recun'ent dub and reggae songs ("White Man in
Hammersmith Palais") or the crucial eariy explorations into
hip-hop waters ("Magnificent Seven"). It is perhaps due to
their cross-cultural/multiracial appeal that the book opens
with a bnef though insightful piece by Chuck D. The Clash
genuinely attempted to unite kids of all races and classes,
as Chuck D. menfions. Even today it is remarkable that
they brought reggae and hip-hop artists on tour, and were
reciprocally played on hip-hop radio shows and name-
dropped in the lyncs of reggae luminaries.

Arguably, Lester Bang's extensive article on touring
with The Clash offers the best glimpse into the life of the
band and Joe Strummer By documenting the day to day
adventures of the touring group. Bangs illuminates much
of the issues tackled throughout the book. We see Mick
Jones inviting fans to hang out and stay on their hotel
room floors. We hear discussions on race and women in
punk. We witness the brewing tension between creating
music as rebellion and performing it as a lucrative career
opportunity. Many of the book's contributors examine
that clash between art and commerce. That The Clash
recorded albums for a major label is a fact neither lauded
or condemned. Yet as Chariie Bertsch points. Strummed
fled major Epic for indie Epitaph with his final group The
Mescaleros.

But it's the candid and infonnative interviews with
Strummer that reveal volumes about the man behind the
myth. In an eariy interview he proclaims: "All them people,
they're as 'appy as sandboys and I'd just like to make
loads of people realize what's goin' on. Like, all those
secrets in the govemment and all that money changing
hands." In one of his last interviews, he states that his chief
impediment is idleness, quipping: "I'd rather sit and watch
Popeye cartoons than do anything."

One need glance only at the many people influenced
and inspired by Joe Strummer and his music to decide
his legacy. Fellow musician Billy Bragg, newer band Radio
Four polifical filmmakers Jim Janmusch and Tim Robbins,
hip-hoppers Not4Prophet and Michael Franti all eulogize
him. But pertiaps all one needs to do is listen to his music.
From the first Clash record to the last Mescaleros album
Streetcore, Let Fury's mission plays out loud and clear.
Strummer confinues to inspire others to create, question,
rebel and celebrate. He joins a long tradition, according
to D'Ambrosio, of potent protest music that knows no
boundaries of time and culture.
■Casey Boland

Public Power in the Age of Empire

Arundhafi Roy

Seven Stories Press, 2004

www.sevenstories.com/

In 1950, according to Freedom House, 31% of the worid ^j

lived in electoral democracies; fifty years later, this

figure had nearly doubled, to 58.2%. With a little effort
(and an arms race), it seemed, democracy would soon
go global. And yet. more than half a century after the
defeat of European fascism, can we say that democracy
is, in fact, "democratic?" This is the question that opens
Public Power in the Age of Empire, the latest salvo from
Arundhati Roy.

Ms. Roy best known for her 1997 novel The God of
Small Things (which earned her both a Booker Prize and
an obscenity charge in her native India) may have political
activism in her genes: her mother, Mary Roy fought and
won an histonc Indian Supreme Court battle to allow
Christian women to inherit their parents' property.

This tiny volume packs an outrage far out of proportion
to its physical size. Roy exhorts the public (whose
interests she defines as increasingly in opposition to
their governments') to reject the "cynical manipulation"
of the political elites and reclaim their rightful "public
power." As they become estranged from the institutions
on which they depend, the people are recognizing that, in
the Age of Empire, "democracy" has been appropnated
by capitalism and "freedom" is just a market slogan. As
language fails under the neo-liberal assault, it falls to the
public to resist.

But "resistance as spectacle" — the all-talk-no-action
theatre of navel-gazing "activists" that is, distressingly,
growing as a trend — is failing the movement:
real resistance, Roy reminds the reader, "has real
consequences. And no salary." In resistance-as-theatre,
with its cast of earnest Western faces, nobody (visible)
gets hurt, and the sound-bites are focus-grouped for the
evening news. The watchword of resistance may soon
be drama, not dissent.

Even as language is "bled of meaning," the word is
moving to subsume the act. Too much energy is expended
in conversations about dissent rather than on dissent
itself, "bluntpng] the edges of political resistance." For this
reason, as the author notes in one of the essay's most
perceptive passages, the NGO culture poses senous
threats to resistance movements around the globe.

Roy claims not to edit when she writes and,
unfortunately, it shows. Opening this essay with a
statement on the decay of language, her admitted
lack of attention to It is perplexing. While at times
her rambling sentence structure gives her prose
urgency, Roy sometimes lets emotion gets the best
of her: too often she sacrifices a salient point for a
sarcastic remark. This might have been effective in
Public Power's original format (as a speech to the
Amencan Sociological Association), but it detracts from
its cogency as prose. More seriously, her aggressive
indignation sometimes camouflages a disappointing
lack of analysis.

This essay is directed at a sympathetic audience:
with its emotion-driven arguments it sets out to inspire,
not convince. (While this may explain some of the faults
previously mentioned, it does not excuse them.)

Public Power is a wandering discourse touching
on everything from colonial debt legacies to the war
on terror(ism) to "nuclear nationalism." It is thought-
provoking, at some points tantalizing, but ultimately
unsatisfying: it serves as an excellent abstract for a book
the author has yet to write.
-Kandice Ardiel

Radix #2

www.radixcollective.com
radimag@mail.com

Radix IS a leftist zine and website. This issue is largely
devoted to examining U.S. involvement in Iraq through
essays and interviews with Rahul Mahajan. There also
an article about why Kerry isn't much better than Bush,
an essay on how corporations influence politics and
policy, an argument in favor of reinstating the draft, and a
cnticism of the No Child Left Behind act. Mixed in with all
this are a few record and book reviews, a fictional story
about a sweatshop worker, and an interview with musician
Tommy Hamngton that discusses the conglomentization
of the music industry and how it affects bands, labels,
and producers.

Radix follows pretty standard radical-leftist ideology,
with the obligatory Noam Chomsky quotes, cnticism of
Israel, and vegan cookie recipes. The wnting is thoughtful,
earnest, and intelligent, and avoids being simplistic or
knee-jerk. Considering this is only the second issue. I'd
say their off to a great start. All in all. it's a good zine and
definitely worth picking up.
-Patrick Sean Taylor

RE/fuse #03

Refuse_fanzine@hotmail.com

This biannual Dutch hardcore zine packs a lot into it's 36
newsprint pages. It features above-average interviews
with both Dutch and Amencan bands, including Heaven
Shall Bum, Modern Life Is War, and Deadstop. There is
also an interview with a French culture jammer, complete
with instructions on how to organize mass vandalism
while minimizing the legal nsks (at least according to
European law).

The zine works hard to create a sense of community
and history within the hardcore scene There are repnnts
of flyers from 80's LA. punk shows, and photos of old
bands. There's an article on Raymond Pettibone. who's
artwori< graced a lot of SST artists' album covers and
flyers, and a history of noise music A lot of
the interviews focus on the practicalities of
distribution and putting out your own music and
zine. My favonte article was the one on Fori van
Sjakoo, a volunteer-run anarchist bookstore in
Amsterdam. It went through the history of the
squatting movement, the nuts of bolts of daily
operation, and the political ideology of the store

It made me want to start my own store. There are also
a few reviews, and an interview with Dan from Punk
Planet, whose zine obviously inspired ttie layout and
wnting of RE/fuse.

All of this is presented in a very nicely-designed
format, and is well-written and free of typos and
grammatical mistakes, all the more impressive as these
guys all learned English as a second language Zines
like this prove to me that punk s not dead and still has a
lot to offer. Anyone into hardcore would do well to check
this out.
-Patnck Sean Taylor

Road to Air America:
Breaking the Right Wing
Stranglehold on our Nation's Airwaves

Sheldon Drobny
Select Books Inc , 2004
vww.selectbooks.com

Debuting in March 2004. the liberal Air America Radio
networi< hasn't yet broken the nght s stranglehold on the
ain/vaves as the title suggests, but at least listeners have
more options.

Road to Air America is ttie story of the network's bnef
history as told by Sheldon Drobny, who founded Air
Amenca with his wife. Anita.

Drobny begins the book by attacking suppression of
the news by the corporate media, stating his mission "to
make it more difficult for deceit, manipulation and back
room pressure to win the day,"

Drobny cites the lack of media attention given to
the uncovering of information revealing ttiat George
W. Bush's grandfather Prescott had ties to a German
industnalist, who helped bankroll Adolf Hitler, as one of
the reasons for him to create an alternate news source

He retells his journey from creating the concept to
eventually being bought out and not even being invited
to the network's launch party to assembling a group of
investors and regaining a piece of the network.

The road to Air America wasn't paved in gold, and a
lot of work still needs to be done, but Drobny isn't shy
about patting himself on the back for his business sense
and also his philanthropv.

The book tends to read like a giant press release, but
Drobny deserves credit for spearheading such a daunting
task as taking on the conservative heavyweights of the
radio worid
-Bill Zimmerman

[AUDIO]

Air Raid Barcelona

Self-produced, 2004

www.airraidbarcelona.com

The second I looi<ed at this, I knew what if was going to
sound lil<e. The packaging is totally late-90s Ebullition,
and so is the sound. This is what I used to know as emo,
before emo came to describe the whiney bullshit that
pollutes the airwaves. In other words, melodic, jagged
guitar with scream/sung vocals and plenty of changes.

Air Raid Barcelona also have the distinction of
being the only band I can think of who try to sound like
Jawbreaker and make it work. The singer has the same
gravelly voice as Blake, and the lyrics are obviously
distilled from hundreds of notebooks filled with urgently
scribbled thoughts and ideas, and so the songs are more
like short stones. There are lines like "you're putting the
car into park/singing "Love Will Tear Us Apart7unpacking
into the new apartment/like this one is the last one".
They manage to paint a picture of a situation in just a few
words, backed by melodic punk that's eamest without
being cheesy.

While a little rough around the edges, these four
songs are definitely a sign of good things to come, so
keep an eye out for these guys.
-Patrick Sean Taylor

Breather Resist/Suicide Note

Split CD

Hawthorne Street Records, 2004

ww/w.hawthornestreetrecords.com

This is a split CD release that has 2 separate discs, one
for each band. Both these bands have that typical old

school hardcore sound in their music production. Since
both bands recorded this in the same studio, that must
be the reason why. Breather Resist is based in Kentucky,
and Suicide Note in Indiana. Midwestern Hardcore music
doesn't get any better than these 2 bands. Both bands will
have (or have had) a release coming out on well respected
labels like Jade Tree Records (for Breather Resist) and
Fen-et Music (for Suicide Note), I really can't wait to hear
more tunes from these 2 bands. The overall packaging of
this release is excellent Suicide Note does an awesome
cover of The Didjits' "(Mama Had A) Skull Baby." The

band's video for the song "Gag Reflex" is included in this
release as well. Be sure to pick this up now!

- Adhab Al-Farhan

Circles Over Sidelights

What Is And What Is To Become
Immigrant Sun Records, 2004
ww/w.immigrantsun.com

Circles Over Sidelights mixes Scandinavian Metal and
Hardcore music quite well. This isn't all that heavy as in
Swedish death metal, but this album is very energetic.
The guitars are driving and so are the pounding beats.
The drums are not as metal-fast but more like hardcore-
fast. The vocals are straight-up modem hardcore even
screamo-like. I wouldn't call this exactly screamo or
emo as it is not exactly acoustic or slow poke music.
While this CD has its quiet moments, they are more like
in the ambient or experimental rock vein. Maybe you
could even label this music art-rock. Experimentations
are good. The music production is reminiscent of early
sludgy hardcore stuff ala Vision of Disorder (V.O.D.).
Immigrant Sun Records need to put out more releases
like this one. Circles Over Sidelights is a band you'd
have to hear to believe the intensity and feeling they
bring within their music.

- Adhab Al-Farhan

The Decemberists

Picaresque

Kill Rock Stars Records

killrockstars.com

I had never heard of this band before and the first time
I did I couldn't quite put my finger on them. Where the
hell were they from? Ireland? England? I couldn't figure
it out as I drove around in my car listening to the CD. The
one thing I did know, though, was that I liked what I was
hearing. Liked enough to take an extra-long drive, burn
up $1 .92 a gallon, )ust to listen to them.

When I got home and looked over the press release, I
found out that, no, they weren't from Ireland, or England,
but from Oregon. However with tracks concerning the
everyday lives of Concubines, Kings, Barrow Boys,
and ghosts, fraught with dulcimers, a softly strummed
acoustic here and there, I hope you can see where I
made my faux pas. (And just for the record, this is the
very first time in my 26 years that I have ever used the
words "faux pas" in a sentence, and I am counting it as a
positive achievement.)

However, yea old Celtic-type tales aren't
always abound and abroad here, lad. No, no,
the Decemberists know how to spin a good love
yarn . . . Granted the lovers might die at the
end in a strange love/suicide pact, but, hey, the
melodies are so tucking good it'll still tug at the
heartstrings.

Aside from the band itself (Rachel Blumberg, Jenny
Conlee, Chris Funk, Colin Meloy, and Nate Query),
listeners might recognize the name of Picaresque's
producer. Chns Walla, guitarist and keyboardist for Death
Cab for Cutie, takes the helm at the recording booth and
helps the band turn out a crisp, clean, airy album.

Colin Meloy said that he hopes people will feel as if
they went through a journey with the album. If you listen,
you will.
■Mike McHone

Estee Louder

Ohio's Best

Diaphragm Records

www.diaphragmrecords.com

This would be a great soundtrack for hanging out in
your backyard punching your friends after a few beers
or vamping mailboxes down those long country roads.
The fuzzy, guitar driven lick-heavy rock sounds like your
buddy's cousin's band from down river, or Nirvana from
the Bleach days. It's good stuff, especially if you down
Pabst Blue Ribbon and rock a big Reverend Horton Heat
sticker on your truck. But I digress, this is a good CD,
with track names like "I was a teenage mullet" how can't
it be, and is going to be blasted loud at the first summer
party I go to. Which I think is entirely appropriate.
-Evan Morrison

The Evens

Self-titled

Dischord Records, 2005

wvw.dischord.com

I know. It's impossible not to conjure aural images
of The Even's staggering musical pedigree while
considering their debut album. Yet even a cursory
inspection reveals them adept at equaling what's come
before. It's different, yes, yet no less significant. The
music still rocks, as do the consciousness-raising
lyrics: "There is no around the corner anymore," "We
can't wait for all you governors," "The police will not
be excused," "There's a prize at every crime." It's
commentary for anyone's anywhere. Ian Mackaye
plays the baritone guitar while Amy Farina beats the
drums. Listen to their deft vocal interplay throughout,
and hear the apparition of Brian Wilson in Mackaye's
singing, particularly in "Around the Corner," and "Mt.
Pleasant Isn't." Or reference the perfectly harmonized
Farina/Mackaye vocal axis of power during the chorus
of "Crude Bomb" (Cru-oo-oo-oo-ude bomb"). It may
startle long-time Mackaye devotees. Still, The Evens
are as visceral, challenging and essential as their
previous projects. For proof, feast your ears on the
quintessential "On the Face of It." The song sums up
The Even's finest points: interesting guitar work, potent
and tasteful drumming, captivating vocal melodies, and

o
o
en

l/t

o
o

lyncal nuggets of wisdom: "That's the tragedy of the
strategy of looking out for number one "
-Casey Boland

Franklin Delano

Like a Smoking Gun In Front of Me
File 13, 2005
www.file-13.com

First off, Franklin Delano is not an individual, but a group
of musicians from Italy. And if that wasn't surpnsing
enough, it sounds as if this album was recorded solely to
invoke the end times of an acid tnp Not a freak out and
not insipid, almost dreamy and just intangible. They have
no peers, unless Italy is full of bands like this that I've
never heard of. At times they're reminiscent of Spacemen
3 during their more lysergically inspired moments. And
at other times, they have no peers and actually succeed
at creating something new. Song structure is always
present, whether it comes in at the beginning or the end
of a song. I say that because a number of times distortion
takes a good minute or two (at least) of the song as an
intro or an outro. On "Matter of Time" the distortion seems
to blossom out of one of the acoustic guitar chords. The
manipulation of said distortion is quite impressive, not
overpowenng and not too subtle that you can miss it.
Understandably, if one is not overly intngued by dream
like contortions of ambient sound some of these exercises
will become tiresome. But perhaps, I'm as impressed as
I am by the fact that the band was able to meld to genres
that I had not previously thought were relatable. Good old
bluesy folk song wnting and avant-rock tendencies don't
sound as if they should go together, but they do in-fact
and quite well. Franklin Delano is about to embark on
a tour of our find nation and I put it to you, Amenca, to
welcome these folks with open arms and bottles of spirits.
Our foreign policy depends on it
■Dave Cantor

French Toast

In a Cave
Dischord Records
www dischord com

What the hell's up with all these duos lately'' It seems
like everything they do nowadays turns to gold, giving a
studio and a stack of fvlarshall's the M\6as touch every
time they crank something out The White Stnpes, the
Firebird Band, Dr. Khan, and now French Toast . Once
again, the Midas touch.

Ex-Fugazi bandmate Jerry Busher teams-up with
James Canty for French Toast's full fledged debut
release. To call this CD good would be an understatement.
Hypnotic dance tracks are combined perfectly with
three-chord songs with carefully crafted melodies; the
synthesizers and drum machines get a good work out on
"New Dub," and the track "Insane" is . . . well, just that

Busher and Canty trade off on the vocal jobs, and the
guitar work, and the drum work, and the drum machine
work, etc etc But the thing is, you see, they blend
together so well that its really hard to tell where one
stops and another begins. (I was about to make a lame-
ass Siamese twin metaphor, but I decided to spare you.
You can thank me later )

Not only are the lyncs and musiaanship nght on, but even

the albums artwork is something to take into consideration
— abstract, child-like, Photoshopped - and the weirdness of
each piece seems to elevate the songs even more

French Toast will be tounng later this year. Go see 'em.
For only having two members, they sound just as good
live as they do in the studio. Once again, it's the blending
... I know for whom the French Toast tolls. They toll for
thee Jesus, I'm hungry.
-Mike McHone

Various Artists (Strike Anywhere, Denali, Cex, etc.)
Location is Everything vol. 2
Jade Tree Records, 2004
www.jadetreecom

How can you go wrong with this comp? It's an amazing
collection I guess this compilation is best if you unfamiliar
with Jade Tree's roster. My favorite tracks off the comps
had to be the strike anywhere and Paint it Black tracks.
These are two of the best punk bands around and if you
don't already know that pick up this comp to be school
on why. Then of course there is more indie acts sadly
the two best ones are now defunct, Onlinedrawing and
Denali. With a lot of names like those of which you've
probably already heard of, there a lot of names you might
not be so familiar with such statistics and Challenger. All
the tracks on this comp are strong, though as with any
comp the styles vary and unless you as open minded
about music about me some tracks are bound not to
strike your fancy. This is a great comp from a great label
you should all familiarize yourselves with.
-Alex Merced

Master Musicians of Bukkake

The Visible Signs of the Invisible Order
Abduction Records, 2005
www.mastermusiciansofbukkake.com

Taking their name from a Brian Jones recording of
Afncan musicians and a cunous Japanese practice.
John Shuller and his Master Musicians of Bukkake
clearly view the vast panoply of the worid's sounds as
their pallet. While avoiding Orientalism or exoticism,
they build music from the noise of earth as learned from
our global media generator: What comes out is both
tnbute and comment on that generator, but no simplified
travelogue Guitars that sound like kotos are plucked
like banjos and wheezing accordions support wheezing
voices Slide guitars navigate a precarious path thru raga
scales while sound is piled subtly upon sound.
While moments of this would be at home on public radio's
Music from the Hearts of Space, there is none of the ashen
quality of new age music These are slow sounds, but
they patiently make demands of the listener. If you want
reflective music that doesn't treat you like a dumbass, give
the Visible Sign of the Invisible Order a shot.
-Keith McCrea

Casey Neill

Memory Against Forgetting

AK Press/Daemon Records, 2005

www.akpress.org wwwdaemonrecords.com

As a long-time Casey Neill fan. I was happy to see
this, but I guess I don't really agree that what these

songs have in common is their "political nature." The
politicalness of the songs is vague and some of the
subjects (wrongful impnsonment in Angola, the fate
of an Insh immigrant, and mining) are a bit obscure to
really connect with This collection of songs from over
the last ten years also features songs about street kids,
finding affinity, and other things that I really do identify
with as part of my culture. Casey comments in the liner
notes that these songs are about memones of the last
ten years, and that seems a much more genuine way to
group them together It's also kind of an intimate peak
into the mind of a songwnter and makes me consider
how the songs connect to each other and represent a
person changing over time.

These songs, in a way, exemplify what I enjoy
about his records - accessible songs about subjects I
understand, melancholy and beautiful For many of us.
memones are melancholy, and this record can push
you into a lost swirl of the past. Even the most upbeat
musically like "Moly." are still not about the most uplifting
of subjects. I don't look to Casey for his biting political
cnticism, I look for more of an emotional support for
activists and progressives; We (Amencans) often seek
validation in community and Casey's songs allow us to
connect with each other.

I've listened to this record a lot dunng the last few
weeks. It includes a few remastered tracks off of Riff Raff
(my favorite release) which apparently is out of print. I
guess when you own the record you don't really realize
that other people can't get it. and I'm glad the songs are
available again Some of these are songs I've never
heard and I appreciate that, but I'd also love to see some
new matenal soon.
-Jen Angel

One.Be.Lo

SONOGRAM.

Fat beats Records, 2005

wvwfatbeats.com

www.subten'anean.com

You know some records are going to be great from the
first few seconds of the opening track I remember the
first time I heard the heavy beats of "New Yori< State of
Mind." the stand-up bass riff that opens The Low End
Theory, or the piano clang and kung-fu swords of "Bnng
tha Ruckus." and knew that the disc I was listening to
was a classic One Be Los SONOGRAM gave me
the same feeling when I put it on From the first track, it
hits you upside the head with its energy and passion.
It starts off with a military hom fiounsh while On.Be.
Lo gives his mission statement, and segues into "The
UNDERground." where he lambastes corporate hip-hop
over a head-bobbing beat and backward guitar loops
The album maintains its passion and energy throughout
Its entire 21 tracks

Lyncally, One Be Lo s rhymes deal with life m the
ghetto, the media, racism, and love He's definitely in the
same category as Mos Def or Talib Kweli, and references
Chuck D and Q-Tip Fans of Binary Star. One Be Los
old group (as Onemanarmy) will be happy to see that
going solo has only made him better The only misstep
on the album is "Can t Get Enough." which is too self-
senous and heavy-handed, and the occasional rhyme
coming down on evolutionary theory and fornicators.

One.Be.Lo has remembered that while lyncs are
important to hip-hop, without good beats no one's gonna
want to listen to it. It's the beats that set this record apart.
Some tracks are built around soul nffs. others on African
drums, some on jazz beats, and others on piano loops. It all
sounds familiar yet new at the same time, referencing old-
school hip-hop while aeating something fresh and exciting.

Rather than just chticize the state of hip-hop, One.
Be.Lo offers up a viable alternative: Rap music that is
conscious, cnlical, and fun to listen to. Like most hip-hop
artists, One.Be.Lo is ambitious. However, his ambition
isn't to create a clothing label or line of energy dnnks; It's
to create an alternative hip-hop community. Let's hope
he has some Wu-sized success.
-Patnck Sean Taylor

The Peels

Dim Mak Records. 2005

www.dimmak.com

So, my penguin pajamas and I have been listening to
this CD on repeat in our bedroom since we first got it.
Which also speaks to our social life since we got it a
week ago, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. The
straightfonward, passionate rock and roll is a lot of fun
to hear. Lead singer Miller pours it out with her throaty
scream, backed by a raucous band. They sound like
they'd be great live.

They would hold their own between Jet, The White
Stripes and The Strokes, The Peels don't break new
musical ground with this record, but they do the retro
rock as well as anyone out there. Maybe now that they've
given their nods to their roots, they'll strike out on their
own on their next disc.

My only gnpe is the length of the disc, eight songs
racking up twenty three minutes. There aren't any filler
tracks, but come on, twenty three minutes? The first time
it cut out so short I went over to the CD player to see if
there WdC something wrong because I didn't want it to be
true. You can tell me it's an EP, but the songs just go by
too fast, I guess that's a small price to pay for the energy
of this San Francisco band's first album.
•Evan Morrison

The Reatards

Bed Room Disasters
eMpTy, 2005
viww.emptyrecords.com

Punks a weird animal. The Reatards are the three-
legged horse of the punk scene. But, ya know whaf
That's good. Bed Room Disasters is a compilation of
singles and tracks recorded in vanous bedrooms across
Memphis with nary a real studio in sight. Most likely
some of these songs shouldn't have made it to cd: the
unlistenable "Fashion Victim," the ndiculous, "Puke on
You," or the Germs-esque "Loretta." That's punk though
and the losers are the winners. Apart from the stuff I
can't get through on here there are a number of covers
(Ramones, Saints, Angry Samoans), including "Running
Free," which isn't exactly a Dead Boys track but lifts the
riff and the vocal delivery. A number of the onginals are
really stunning, however. Some great choruses see the
light of day like, "I gotta rock n roll/Before I lose my mind."

While not every track can be quality, there are a number
of sonically competent guitar riffs ("No Turning Back,"
"Chuck Taylor's AllStar Blues," 'Bummer Bitch"). Now
that I've praised 'em, I do have to say that Jay Reatard
went on to form The Lost Sounds, whom I cannot in good
conscience vouch for. But, for some reason the mid to
late nineties produced some really passionate punk rock.
The Reatards are one of those bands with substandard
musicianship and a howling vocalist and that really just
means good punk. Today there's not a band that can
chum out the punk like these guys, The Showcase
Showdown or The Prostitutes and that's America's
loss. It seems like keyboards and disco drumbeats are
more popular today than authentic anger and drunken
teenagers. Oh well, I still have reissues and compilations
like this one.
■Dave Cantor

Specs One

Retunr) of the Artist
Abduction, 2004
www.suncitygiris.com/abduction

Specs One has been rapping for twenty-odd years,
and has put out a million self-produced cds and tapes.
His experience shows in his easy confident flow, and
his simple but effective beats are evidence of his old-
school roots. Specs keeps his rhymes about rapping,
specifically about his skills and other MCs lack of them.
He steers clear of the violent materialism of mainstream
hip-hop or the sometimes preachy philosophizing of the
underground. The result is a welcome change from other
hip-hop records out there, although I did find myself
wishing he'd talk about something else. It reminded
me of hardcore bands who only sing about how other
punks aren't staying true to the scene. Aren't there more
important things to be worrying about?

Specs did all the production, and for the most part it
works. He has hard-hitting beats over samples of pianos,
violins, even old French pop songs. In lieu of skits he
includes several instrumental tracks which are pretty
good, and beat the hell out of listening to staged drive-
bys. The only real sour note on the record for me is "Ode
to Mies", which misfires badly in its heinous use of a 50's
muzak sample and it's retardo chorus of "Big ups to mic!"
This would be easier to overtook if it wasn't included
twice on the album, once in its original fomi, and then as
a radio edit with the five swear words in it bleeped out.

One a whole, however. Return of the Artist is a solid
effort. The album has got a low-key charm, and Specs'
laid-back flow is kind of like Snoop Dogg if he were a
Buddhist instead of a Buddha-head. Fans of old-school
hip-hop should definitely check this out.

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[VIDEO]

Jandek on Corwood

Chad Freidrichs, Director
Unicom Stencil, 2003
www.jandekoncon/vood.com

Jandek on Convood is a documentary that seems to
be more about the mystery and the cult of Jandek than
about the iJber-reclusive musician himself (whose sole
"appearance" — a snippet of a 1 985 interview with Spin's
John Trubee — is the only interview Jandek has granted
in his entire career). Since 1978, Jandek has released at
least 35 albums on his own label, Corwood Industries,
which operates solely out of a PO. Box in Houston,
Texas. His music has been described as "stark," "bleak,"
"honest," even as a "33-album suicide note." The film's
interviewees speculate on Jandek's real identity, the
circumstances of his life, and the degree to which his
celebrity (or anti-celebrity) is cultivated by his absence.
That Jandek would self-press small runs of his records
as eariy as 1978 (as he continues to do to this day)
— and maintain a cordially antagonistic relationship with
the machinations of publicity — certainly marks him as
a DIY pioneer and as an artist whose work breaks with
most standard modes production and distribution.

Jandek on Corwood is visually appealing, especially
for a first-time director. Since album covers and song
snippets were the only raw material at their disposal, the
filmmakers had to get creafive to prevent the film from
being 90 minutes of talking head shots with stacks of
records in the background. Both the landscape footage
and the interview segments were manipulated in post-
production to give the hues a washed-out tone (or to
impose objects such as guitars, typewriters, telephones,
tape machines, and so forth) suggesting imagery
consistent with Jandek album cover art, if not the mood
of his music.

One myth afforded substantial weight in the film is
that, given the troubled nature of the subject matter he
chooses to present in song, Jandek himself must be
mentally emotionally or psychologically "off." Thankfully,
at least one voice in the film points out that Jandek's
choice to often present dark and troubling (and somefimes
painfully personal) matenal does not mean that the artist
himself is not an everyday well-adjusted human being.
Sure, Jandek's insistence on privacy seems to add fuel
to the fire of speculation, but ulfimately his proactive role
in defending his nght to pnvacy (especially in an age
where media companies, multinational corporations, and
governments go out of their way to rob us of that right)
marks him as one of the saner people I've never met.

At the point of the films release (both on the film
circuit and into the home video market), Jandek had
never performed live. Reports have trickled in that a
representative of Con/vood Industries (of which Jandek is
the sole proprietor) performed an unpublicized concert in
Glasgow, Scotland on October 17, 2004, Accompanied by
a rhythm secfion, the man bore an uncanny resemblance
to the figure often seen on the cover of Jandek albums,
and sounded like the voice on those albums. In the words
of the representafive from Corwood: "You may not get all
the answers you want. It's better that way"
-Edward Burch

3
o

HERE

with Ohio's-Own

BLUEPRINT

Big Daddy Kane opened his classic hit,
"Ain't No Half Steppin" by declaring, "it's
'88, time to set it straight." Inspired by the
same declaration, Columbus "producer on the
mic," Blueprint is ready to stroll down memory
lane and take it back to the glory years with
the release of his solo debut. "1988."

"I want to get back to the
albums that were 40 minutes
long and only 12 songs deep
with two verse songs," Blue-
pnnt said. "Too many people
are doing 60 minute albums
with 20 songs or more and
only 12 of them are worth
listening to."

Blueprint said the album
will pay homage to the clas-
sic breaks of 1988 with a
more stripped down sound
compared to his two previous
projects; lllogic's "Celestial
Clockwork" and Blueprint's
instnjmental album, "Cham-
ber Music."

"For the past two records
I've been expressing my
artistic side." Blueprint said.
"I had to say "it's out of your
system. Now, can you do a
conventional album and be
good at it?'"

Blueprint considers his
breakthrough collaboration
with fellow Columbus native.
RJD2, on Soul Position's "8
Million Stories" to have a
slower and longer playing
feel compared to his new
record. Rhyming for five
minutes or more does not
follow what he considers the
conventional song structure
of hip hop's golden age. With "1988" Bluepnnt
promises a faster paced record compared to
"8 Million Stones" that will capture the energy
of his live shows.

Musically, Blueprint claims the album is
about paying homage and respect. The song
concepts will not cover uncharted temtory, but
will be presented in a way only the creative

Blake Gillespie

mind of Printmatic can achieve. Few perfor-
mances can make a hip hop head's heart
ache in remembrance of the "good ole days'
like Blueprint shanng the stage with lllogic for
cover of A Tnbe Called Quest's "Check the
Rhime." Well, Printmatic is back with another
clever cover. The legendary trio. Salt n' Pepa
are interpolated into his version of "Tramp." as
he narrates of a scandalous floosie that plays
him and his weightless crew.

On "Trouble On My Mind," Print mimics the
riot-inducing production of Public Enemy's
Bomb Squad. He even borrows a few Chuck
Ds lines to open verses as he emphasizes the
troubles of being an independent artist. Chuck
remains an influence in the album themes as
Print and CJ the Cynic cast light on Cincinnati
police brutality continuing to plague the city
after the 2001 riots with "Kill Me First."

"Things haven't changed since the riots:
the cops remain untouchable and it makes
you feel like shit I'd rather die then get ar-
rested," Blueprint said regarding a case of a
man who died while in custody of the Cincin-
nati Police Department.

For those who have frequented Weight-
less shows for the past three years, caught
Blueprint on tour with Atmosphere and been
to Scribble Jam: the song you patiently waited
for will finally be released. If this song were a
SAT question it would read like this: "Pirates
are to a parrot resting on a shoulder as b-
boys are to a (blank) resting on a shoulder''"
The answer is "Boombox;" Print's ode to the
speaker box.

"Everywhere I go people ask when I will fi-
nally release that song and I tell them to just be
patient," Blueprint said "Well, here it finally is '

Tours are in the worths to promote "1988."
beginning with the ongoing Weightless Inva-
sion Tour of Ohio with lllogic. He will be tour-
ing this spnng with an extended, nationwide
Weightless tour and possibly a shared tour
with what Blueprint humbly considers, "people
larger than [him]."

Find out the latest with Bluepnnt and Weight-
less Recordings at www.weightless.net

rsi

Where You At? future installments of HERE" will include reports from around the world from people
like you Drop us a line at here@clamormagazine org and tell us about the people, places, struggles,
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